Closer
by Miss Peg
Summary: Sequel to my TRILOGY; What happens when the one thing Katie wants is taken away? What happens when an event occurs that could rip apart relationships and change the lives of everyone around her?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author Note**_**: This is a sequel/spin off from my last three fics (Trying To Forget, No Other Way, Through The Dark). I originally said NO MORE and ended it when I ended Through The Dark. But within hours my mind was racing, ideas were flying at me from all angles and I don't know if any of you have come across plot bunnies, but they were really beating up the work bunnies that were trying to get me back on track with my degree work. I won't update this story as much as I updated the rest, I will make sure I don't do that because I need to work hard for the next 8 weeks and then I'm off away, so well I'm going to attempt to get this story done and dusted by the middle of June, but in the meantime I can't be updating millions of times a day, so just to warn you all.**

**This is from a mixed point of view, rather than switching the views and it's more related to Katie with a sideline of Naomily in there.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The blood soaked the white cotton sheet, deep red seeping through the material, searching for every last inch of white it could find. The pain was immense. The cramping dug into her stomach, picking at the edges as though a knife was cutting tiny holes in the skin, letting the blood ooze out. It had been six days. But the pain was still present, invading her mind in every waking hour. She was tired. No, she was exhausted from feeling the pain that wasn't really there. Except that it was. It wasn't caused by the cramping in her stomach or the blood that had surrounded her, it wasn't caused by that night when she went to bed with a little bit of pain in her side and woke up to her whole life being ripped apart. It was caused by the loss, by the words that had been said, floated into the air like they meant nothing. But they didn't mean nothing to Katie Fitch.

"Miscarriage," was the first one. The doctor had said it in such a way that she knew it had been said too often in that same room.

"Too much blood loss, too much damage," came after, the words hit her hard, knocking her for six, sending questions flying through her brain about what it would mean for the future.

"Probably wont be able to conceive," the final nail in the coffin, the words that answered every question she'd hoped to ignore.

*

*

*

The zip from the sofa cushion dug into her face, it hurt, but she left it there. The pain of the blunt edges rearranging her skin was little comparison to the bigger pain that was still clouding her existence. The television was on, the room was the same as it usually was. But she wasn't paying attention to the talking box and it didn't feel the same.

"Cup of tea?" Howard asked, sitting beside her, brushing the hair from her face as though to comfort her. She just shook her head, knowing that she was pushing him away by her silence.

The kettle boiled and Howard poured himself a drink. It was hot, too hot as he gulped it down, barely noticing the burning sensation in his throat. He stood in the doorway to the lounge, watching as his girl lay there, broken. He wanted to hold her, he wanted to do something to take away her pain. But she wouldn't let him and even if he tried, he knew that nothing would change the fact that they had lost their baby, lost their only chance to have a child. A lump in his throat travelled to his eyes and he retreated to the kitchen where he leant against the work surface and let his heart empty in a flood of tears.

*

*

*

There was a distant knock at the door. Katie listened carefully as Howard answered the door, the voices sounded so far away despite only being on the other side of the wall.

"Katie?"

A voice was calling out to her; it was familiar, it was comforting. She looked up as Emily walked into the room, her red hair cut slightly shorter than usual, her usually smiling face was dull and concerned. A lump formed in her throat as she realised that Howard had told her.

"Why didn't you call me?" she asked, her voice wavering.

It took all of Katie's energy to pull herself up into a seated position and form words.

"You were on holiday,"

"I would have got the first flight home," she cried out.

It was heartbreaking to see her sister sat there, her eyes hollow, her usually painted face looked dull and uncared for. She moved across the room, not pausing to say anything more as she sat beside her twin. Her arms reached up around her shoulders and after a moment of resistance, Katie sunk into Emily's arms. The silence was filled by sobs as her body shook with tears, letting out the grief she'd been holding in.

*

*

*

The room had gone quiet again when Katie had lay back down on the sofa, closing her tired, red eyes. Emily brushed her hair gently with her hand as Katie's breathing levelled out and she fell into a slumber. It was hard to watch her usually stable sister break down, the lack of words she spoke and the general change in her being. She stayed with her for a while, waiting until she knew she was well gone, before Emily pulled herself off the sofa and went to find Howard who was entertaining Naomi in the kitchen.

"Did I hear her crying?" Howard asked, his voice almost as broken as Katie's.

Emily nodded her head, struggling to find the words she wanted to comfort her brother-in-law.

"Howie said she's been in there ever since it happened," Naomi muttered, filling the silence the only way she knew how.

"I thought these doctors could fix anything these days," Emily snapped, "How could they let it get that bad?"

Howard's voice was laced with tears as he spoke, "It wasn't their fault, they did everything they could, but there was some infection or a tear or something."

*

*

*

The house had gone quiet; Katie was asleep on the sofa and Howard had gone up to his room get some rest. Emily sat at the kitchen table as Naomi cooked some pasta. It smelled great, but Emily didn't think she could stomach the taste.

"I can put it in the fridge, Howard and Katie can eat it tomorrow," she informed Emily, but she wasn't even listening.

Naomi took a deep breath and turned down the pan, before sitting down opposite Emily, intertwining their fingers.

She didn't know what to say, or what to do, so she just said the first thing to come to mind, "We should go home soon,"

"No, I need to stay," Emily cried, her eyes filling with tears, urgency in her voice.

"Okay, okay, we can stay," Naomi mumbled, stroking her shoulder.

"Why can't this be like the other time?" Emily asked, her voice tiny.

"I don't know," Naomi sighed, reaching over and pulling her into her arms.

"If it was just a miscarriage then she'd be okay, she'd get through it like the first one. Why can't it fucking be the same?"

Naomi took a deep breath, trying to find the words to comfort her love.

"Sometimes bad things happen and we don't know why, there's no reason,"

Emily felt herself snapping, "I don't fucking case about reasons or bad things, I just case about Katie,"

The words were harsh and Emily meant them, but she didn't mean to snap at Naomi, she was just trying to help.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Naomi was holding her tightly again, arms that usually made Emily feel alive wrapped around her, comforting her as best as they could. She was angry, she was feeling pain for Katie and she was taking out her frustration on the girl she loved. But Emily knew that it didn't matter, because Naomi understood.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you for reading, I am curious to know your thoughts on the story since it's obviously not in the usual falling in love, sex, drugs, rock and roll that is common in the Skins world. So please press the review button and let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you for the reviews, you know I enjoy reading them. ^_^ Also a massive thank you to everyone who reviewed the final chapter of Through The Dark, you beat my previous record of number of reviews and I really do appreciate that so, so much.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The clouds took a while to clear and the pain, though still present, was getting easier to manage. Katie stood in the kitchen making a drink, mulling over her thoughts. She hated being sad, she hated being anything but happy. She could handle fights and feeling annoyed. But she couldn't stand feeling sorry for herself. It had been two weeks of wallowing, two weeks of lying on the sofa barely moving. At first it was what she needed, but eventually it became tiresome. Howard entered the kitchen in his shirt and tie.

"Are you going to work?" she asked, her voice sounding weird from lack of hearing it.

"I've taken too much time off," he muttered. He knew that wasn't the whole truth; his manager had insisted he take as long as Katie needed him, but he couldn't stand being cooped up in that house any longer.

"Okay," Katie whispered.

It must have been hard on him, she thought. They were usually very touchy feely when they were together; hands, legs, mouths. But neither of them had felt very passionate lately. She didn't want him to go. It was a selfish thought, but she wanted to curl up in his arms and fall asleep watching some rubbish film.

"Howie?" she asked, her voice small and tight.

"Yes?" he responded, looking up into her eyes.

-

It felt good to see her eyes again, to really look into them, to explore the thoughts that lay beneath. It was too much, her eyes were sad, shielding pain from the outside world, but they were opening their doors and letting him enter. He stepped forwards, his arms sliding neatly around her body. She shook, the side of his shirt grew damp, but he didn't care. She was finally letting him into her pain, finally allowing him to be her husband and comfort her.

"I don't want to feel this way," she sobbed, "It's well bad,"

He tried to smile as he wiped her tears, mopped up the sorrow that was falling from her eyes.

He struggled to keep his composure, "Were going to get through this,"

Katie nodded, pushing her face into the side of his neck, breathing in every inch of his skin. Skin that she loved, skin that she missed. Her hands rested on his chest, sliding across his neck as she reached up and kissed him softly. It was intense; a moment of passion that they'd not shared in too long, the feeling of fire running through them, warming their bodies, heating them up after weeks of being out in the cold.

When she pulled away, Katie had a question on her mind. It hurt to think about it, but she had to ask, "Can you handle not having a baby of our own?"

Howard's lips curled into a slight smile, "I love you Katie, that's all that I need."

*

*

*

Its was a lazy morning. Emily lay in bed, enjoying the peace and quiet of being alone. The bed was never as warm without Naomi in it, but she spread herself out and breathed in Naomi's scent which still lingered in the room. She was happy. Her life was good and she didn't have very much to complain about. Except for her sister. She'd thought about the situation several times, let it run through her mind as she tried to find ways to help Katie feel better. She kept going over them, but her mind always came back to one thing. The front door of the house opened and banged shut, pulling Emily from her thoughts.

"Emly, Emly," a tiny voice shouted, feet stamping their way up the stairs. Followed by bigger feet, louder stamps and Naomi's voice.

"Hold up Lexie,"

There was silence, then Naomi popped her head around the door.

"Are you decent?"

Emily shook her head, slipping out of the covers and into her clothes from the night before which were still balled up on the floor. The door opened fully as she pulled her t-shirt round her waist.

-

"Emly!" that tiny voice shouted as Naomi's little sister bound through the door, her blonde hair flying around. Emily grinned and scooped her into her arms.

"Hello Little L!"

"I gots a new toy to show you," she called out as her feet hit the ground and she was off out of the room again.

"I missed you when I woke," Emily sighed, resting her fingers around the edge of Naomi's top,

"Sorry, I was going to wake you but I was already running late to pick little missy up and you looked so peaceful,"

Naomi grinned as Emily's fingers slid up her back. "Do we know how Katie is?"

Naomi watched her shake her head, her eyes looking everywhere but into her own. They were always honest about their feelings, after everything they'd been through they chose to fight and make up over hiding their thoughts.

"What is it?" she asked, trying her best to search Emily's eyes for an answer.

The red head lifted her head, a smile on her face. "It's nothing, I'm just worried about her, no change there really."

"No," Naomi sighed, kissing her lightly on the lips. "You'd best get some shoes on or Lexie will be dragging you out barefoot."

-

Emily did as she was told and followed Naomi and Lexie out to the front of the house where a small yellow and red bike sat. The little girl sat down on the seat, gripping the handlebars tightly.

"Help me ride Emly," she grinned,

It was easy to push the little bike along, making sure Lexie didn't fall off as she pushed down on the pedals. Emily couldn't help think about the happy times she'd shared with Naomi and her sister and how special it was to be part of a child's life. Whilst she played with Lexie, she made a decision. It had taken a lot of thought, the more she thought about it, the easier it was to make, but she knew that it would change everything.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: The next chapter might not be up for a couple of days, but it is going to be a huge one (not length wise, dunno how long it'll be) but storyline wise, so keep your eyes peeled. As Emily said it will change everything...these two chapters have just been an introduction really with a bit of backstory on the recent events. If you've read this chapter, please, please, please review. ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you for the reviews, you know I love them!!! I'm hoping you like this chapter, it was quite difficult to write really, started it about 3 times, haha. But it's done now and hopefully it's an enjoyable one.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

Emily was sat in front of Katie, her hands resting in her lap, trying their best not to move. Katie frowned, it wasn't unusual for Emily to turn up at her house, but rare that she actually had something significant to talk about.

"What's wrong?"

"Not, nothing," Emily stuttered.

Howard and Katie shared a glance. It wouldn't have been so strange, if Emily hadn't requested that Howard be there too. Normally Katie would make some joke, probably piss Emily off a little before cracking into laughter. But instead they sat in silence.

"You don't look like nothings wrong" Howard stated, feeling the tension in the room.

"I have something to," Emily paused, "To ask, no to tell, no, to suggest,"

"Right," Katie whispered.

"You want a baby," Emily began, her words falling out so quickly, "I won't really be getting pregnant anytime in the near future, so I want to have a baby for you,"

*

It took a minute to process what Emily was saying, but when she did, Katie's hand covered her mouth, unsure of what to say. She could feel Howard's fingers press into her side, his grip getting slightly tighter, before loosening when he realised what he was going.

"Are you serious?" Katie muttered, gasping.

Emily smiled, "Entirely,"

"You can't have thought about this properly, it's not like sharing a pair of jeans," Howard stated.

Katie wanted to tell him to shut up, that he should just let Emily speak, or that they should answer her. But she couldn't even form words, or thoughts, let alone challenge anything Howard was saying.

"I've thought about nothing else since the thought came to mind," Emily smiled, holding Katie's hand between her fingers, "I love you Katie and I want to help you be happy, I want to have a baby for you,"

*

There was a knock on the door and Howard went to answer it, while Emily and Katie sat in silence. Katie's head shaking side to side, before she finally filled the void.

"Are you sure you've thought about this?"

Naomi smiled at Howard as he let her into the house, a strange grin on his face, an expression she'd never seen before. It was a nice chance from the sombre mood she walked into almost every time she'd been in the house recently. She walked ahead of Howard towards the lounge, where she could hear voices. Her eyes fixed on the back of Emily's head as she spotted her, letting her continue speaking, instead of interrupting.

"I want you to be happy Katie and if that means having a baby for you..."

Naomi froze, "Having a what?"

The words were out there and they hurt. Naomi didn't know why it hurt, they were just words. But they were several small words that could change everything. A baby. Emily wanted to have a baby, for Katie. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The words were fake, a figment of her imagination. They had to be. But they weren't. Naomi turned to Katie, her eyes wild with accusations and questions. It wasn't Emily who wanted this, it couldn't be.

"I cant believe you've asked her to do this," Naomi called out to the sister of her girlfriend.

Katie looked confused, "I haven't asked her to do anything, she just offered, it's well nice of her,"

"Oh sure, sure she just 'offered' to have a baby for you," Naomi cried out, "I'm sorry you cant have a kid, but do you really think you can expect Emily to have one for you?"

*

It was irrational, her thoughts were mixing up with a soap opera or a dream, a nightmare. It couldn't be happening the way Katie was saying, it couldn't be true.

But it was, "Actually..." Emily began to say before Naomi interrupted her.

"You're kidding me, you are fucking joking, Ems, tell me you're joking," Naomi sighed, the words falling from her lips before she could stop them.

"I can't," Emily whispered, her voice stained by the nearing of tears.

She couldn't stand there any longer. She couldn't listen to the conversation anymore. She couldn't stare into Emily's eyes, or into the expectant eyes of her sister. Katie wouldn't say no, why would she? It was too much to take in, so Naomi stormed past Howard who was stood in the doorway.

"Naomi, don't go," he tried, but his words were little comfort, "We should talk about this."

"WE should talk," Naomi snapped, glancing at Emily before walking out.

Katie wanted to feel happy about the suggestion. The moment Emily had offered, she wanted to say yes. But they needed to talk about it, to process the possibility. But then Naomi walked in and everything changed. It wasn't a really nice offer anymore. It was tainted with Emily's mistake.

*

"You didn't even tell her?" Katie asked, jumping out of her seat.

Emily frowned, looking barely guilty, "No, it's my body...this doesn't effect her."

"Are you fucking stupid Emily?" Katie couldn't help shout.

"What is this? Gang up on Emily day?"

Howard stepped in, his words trying to sound strong, but coming out all wobbly, "No Emily, no one is ganging up on you, but surely you see why Naomi is pissed off,"

It suddenly dawned Emily what she had done, or not done. They had spent years sharing everything, being honest with their feelings. The moment Emily had thought about being a surrogate, she thought about being there for Katie and Howard, giving them something they'd wanted for almost two years. But not once had she thought about the other person who would be effected by what she was offering it do.

"I, I'm sorry," she gasped, pushing herself out of the chair, before running from the house.

"Naomi," she shouted, watching the car pull away from the pavement. She watched the little car disappear around the corner, before breaking down into tears.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: So, was it what you all expected it to be? What do you think of the idea? Anyone? The review button is \/ that a-way \/!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you all for the reviews, you know I love them! Sorry it's taken me a little longer than usual to get this chapter up, it's really been bugging me, then I started part of it again and it all worked out. My ideas are starting to form fully for this story, so hopefully it'll all be easier to write now.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

Katie thought long and hard about Emily's offer. It was all she could think about. Ever since the doctor told her that conceiving was near enough impossible, she'd been heartbroken. It was like living in a soap opera, where horrible things happened all too often. The first miscarriage had been hard, but they'd accepted it as one of those things. The second; it was bearable, until they'd told her it would be her last. Emily had been her rock, she had taken time out of her life to be there. It made her feel guilty for all the times she'd let her sister down, or treated her badly. She wished she didn't feel so down about Emily's offer. It was a good offer, an amazing offer that she desperately wanted to take. But it didn't take away everything she wished she could change. It was hard to understand how Emily could be so selfless, when Katie had spent so many years being selfish.

"What's on your mind?" Howard asked, handing her a mug of coffee and slipping an arm around her waist as he joined her on the sofa.

"Emily," she admitted, not really sure how else to respond.

Howard spoke then waited patiently, "And what are your thoughts?"

"I think I want to have a baby and she can give us a really good option,"

His voice was calming, non-judgemental, "But..."

She smiled at his intuition, "Emily has spent her life doing things for me, why does it feel like it would be too selfish to accept?"

"You're forgetting one thing," he mumbled,

*

Her eyes stopped on Howard's, searching for the answer to the question on the tip of her tongue.

"What?"

"You have been selfless too, you were more than a support for her through the depression and attacks,"

It hurt to think about that time in Emily's life. It hurt her to think of how messed up Emily was and how she couldn't do anything to help her. She'd pushed her memories of that aside, tried her best to ignore the sadness she associated with those months of their life.

"You have helped Emily in so many ways, K, don't forget what you have done for her,"

It still bothered her, "But is that enough for us to accept? If we do this, I think we're a bit further behind on the favours,"

Howard's lips touched the skin on her neck, forcing tingles to travel down her spine. Then he moved his mouth to her ear,

"I don't think she'd mind,"

*

It suddenly occurred to Katie that she hadn't asked for his thoughts on the situation, he had claims to half of the decision after all.

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to do whatever you want to do my love," he spoke earnestly, as though he felt he was doing the right thing.

It didn't make her feel happy, it didn't sit well with her either. So she pulled away and stared into his eyes.

"No, you have to have thoughts about this, you have to have an opinion. I won't make this decision without you, that'd be well wrong,"

"I," he began, his voice growing weak, "I watched the pain you went through losing our babies,"

Katie bit her lip, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm scared to go through that pain again, I'm scared that it won't happen and that you won't cope, that _we_ won't cope."

She wanted to cry, she had so many questions to ask him, wondering why he was being so down about the option. She didn't want to judge, though she was too scared not to. But then he opened his mouth and continued.

"But I am scared that if we don't say yes, we won't get another chance to be parents."

*

*

*

The door banged as it shut behind her. Emily ran through the house, searching every room, looking for that familiar blonde hair, hoping that she could fix the mistakes she'd made.

"Naomi," she screamed as she entered their bedroom.

That blonde hair was sticking out behind the wardrobe door and she felt her heart melt. It took every effort not to pull her from her search and into a passionate embrace. Then Naomi pulled away, a pile of clothes in her hands as she carried them over to a bag. Emily's heart skipped a beat and she felt sick.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, knowing the answer.

Naomi glanced up, acknowledging her presence, "What does it look like?"

"Don't do this Naomi, please, can we just talk about this?"

Naomi stood up fully, her arms folded across her chest. She could tell that Emily was waiting for her to answer, an expectant, hopeful look in her eyes. It broke Naomi's heart to do it, but she shook her head.

*

"Talk?" she asked, almost spitting out the words, hatred building up inside. "Don't you think you've missed the boat on that one?"

"Please Naomi, I'm sorry,"

"Sorry for what? Not telling me, or me finding out?" she raised an eyebrow, gritting her teeth, waiting for Emily to speak.

"I was going to tell you!" she tried, but it wasn't enough.

"Before you talked to a doctor? Or after you got pregnant?" it was a sentence filled with bitterness, but she couldn't help it.

Emily's voice was mixed with the presence of tears, "Before, of course before,"

"But not before asking Katie and Howard, right?"

Naomi watched Emily's expression turn from sadness, to anger, then back to sorrow. She knew she didn't mean to do it, she had made a mistake. But Naomi continued to pack her bag.

"Don't do this," Emily cried out, her face covered in wet tears, sliding down her cheeks.

"Do what?" Naomi asked, feeling pleasure in Emily's pain.

Emily's sobs made it hard for her to speak, but she finally replied, "Don't leave me Naomi, don't leave me because of one mistake,"

*

She didn't know why she did it, but Naomi laughed. It made Emily sob harder, but Naomi just shook her head.

"I'm not fucking leaving you Emily,"

Those deep brown eyes looked confused, mixed with anger as they stared her down.

"I'm fucked off, alright? But I'm not leaving, I just need some space. I have some leave owed to me at work so I'm gonna take it, give us both a break,"

Emily just stared at her, her eyes filled with indignation, as Naomi zipped up her bag and carried it towards the door.

"I'll be at mums if you need me."

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading...reviews anyone? I WILL give fictional chocolate brownies to anyone who wants them, double dosage to ronnie25 for suggesting brownies!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks so much for the reviews, I love them and I love you all for being such a nice people and leaving reviews. Brownies for all, that's for sure. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The room was filled with darkness, each crevice filled with shadows and a layer of black light. The day had finished and Emily had barely watched it end from her seat at the bottom of the stairs. She wondered if she should eat something, but her stomach was twisted in knots. She figured a drink of water or coffee wouldn't do her dry lips any harm, but she felt like she would throw up anything that entered her mouth.

"Naomi," she whispered into the darkness as a figure appeared on the other side of the glass panel in the front door. But when an advert for window cleaners fell to the floor she felt gutted, like someone had pulled a rug out from under her. She wondered how late it actually was if someone was doing a letterbox drop.

*

*

*

The food was tasteless and she felt her appetite disappearing with every mouthful. She liked to eat, usually. But tonight she found herself hating food.

"What's going on love?" Gina asked.

Naomi looked up, barely passing by her mums eyes, "Emily and I need a break from each other,"

The conversation ended as soon as it began when further questions were left unanswered. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about what was going on, but she couldn't. It was on the tip of her tongue, waiting for its chance to be spoken, but she couldn't do it. The thought of vocalising it made it seem so much more real that she'd decided very quickly not to say more than was needed.

"Lex needs potty," the tiny voice of her blonde haired sister spoke, making Naomi smile. Her mum stood up, so she stood up too.

"I'll take her,"

"Are you sure?" Gina asked, looking at her with concern. Naomi just nodded her head and took the little girls hand.

*

It wasn't the best of jobs, just like changing a nappy, but Naomi found herself entranced by the little girl sat down, talking a mile a minute barely making sense.

"Oh really?" she smiled, staring into those bright blue eyes that reminded her of her own.

"And Johnny gots a ball from the board and fell in the park,"

"That's not good, is he alright?"

She continued to listen to the tiny voice. It was like watching a miracle form in front of her. Memories of the first time they had met, the first time she had babysat alone, the first time that small baby face had looked up at her, the first time she had called her Nai-Nai. Each moment made up the miracle of life, of children growing up to be human beings, formed by their parents and the family around them. She didn't like what Emily had done, it pissed her off to be kept in the dark until the decision had been made. But when she watched her sister and thought about the happiness she had brought their whole family, it made her heart sink at the thought of Katie and Howard never getting the chance to experience it. Finally she realised that as angry as she was, she would feel even angrier if she was the person to stop Howard and Katie from experiencing that part of life.

*

*

*

The phone rang in the distance, pulling Emily's attention from her brain and into the hallway around her. She reached out to the phone that sat on the windowsill and whispered a greeting, before allowing the other person to talk.

"Katie? What?" she muttered, confused by the fast paced words on the other end of the phone.

"We want to do it,"

Emily was confused, "You want to do what?" her mind had taken a detour from previous trains of thought and had now found itself lost at the end of a track she wasn't supposed to have travelled down.

"If you still want to do it, we want you to have a baby for us,"

It took a moment to refocus her attention, to return to the suggestion of surrogacy in her mind. Her head was mixed up, but she took a deep breath and tried to clear the fog. A slight smile made her lips curl up.

"That's great," she gasped, barely convincingly.

Thankfully Katie was too excited to notice the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. She wanted to do it, it was still going to happen now that Katie and Howard had decided. But that moment, without Naomi, she couldn't find the energy to think about it.

"I, err," Emily began, interrupting Katie talking a mile a minute about something, "I need to go, can we meet up soon and talk about this properly?"

"Sure," Katie muttered, her voice sounding as though she had a huge grin on her face, "We are well happy Ems, love you."

Emily sighed, nodding her head, before realising Katie couldn't see, "Same,"

*

As soon as the phone was back on its hook, it rang again. She usually screened her calls due to the countless call centres or advertisers trying to sell something. But she didn't seem to care much about that. The moment the phone touched her ear she rolled her eyes as the familiar moment of silence filled the lack of conversation. She sighed, remembering why she didn't answer the phone very often, when a small voice spoke, catching her in her tracks.

"Emily,"

It was Naomi. It was her beautiful girlfriend. The soft, gentle sound of her voice whispered her name. There was another silence, but she didn't care. If they hung up, at least she'd heard her voice and it wasn't angry, it was just it's beautiful, normal self.

"How are you?" she asked,

There were multiple answers to the question; many ways she wanted to explain how she felt; many things to tell her about her daze, about the baby that Katie wanted her to have. But it all went out of her head.

"I'm okay, now."

There was a long pause, Naomi's breathing the only thing she could hear from the other end of the phone.

Naomi's voice grew quieter and faltered, "I, I sup, support you,"

*

Those three words were like heaven to her ears, like a plaster covering a newly grazed knee as a child. She laughed as tears fell from her eyes, invading her ability to respond. She didn't know why she was so emotional over something so small, but she silently thanked something, anything, for the words that had fallen from her girls lips.

"Thank you and I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," Naomi sighed.

Emily tasted the tears as they reached her mouth, "Please come home,"

There was another pause as Naomi thought about a way to respond, "I'm going to stay here for a couple of days,"

"Oh," Emily muttered, "But I thought we were…"

"We are," Naomi interrupted, "But I think some space will still be a good thing. I'll come home soon, I promise."

It wasn't what she had wanted, but it was enough. It was a compromise in a sticky situation that she felt glad to have survived when she knew it could have been so much worse. They said a mumbled goodbye and Emily finally pulled herself off her naughty step and carried herself off to bed.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Did you enjoy reading? Do you want more? I don't know the answers to those questions, so please tell me! Fictional **Thomas-style doughnuts for reviewing this time, thanks to fabfairy's suggestion! Anymore suggestions? Please review...


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you all for the reviews, you really do keep me going with this story and it's so nice to hear what people think, even if comments aren't the happiest! :) I appreciate them all.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The knee beside him was moving, shaking about uncontrollably. Howard smiled at Katie, watching her eyes move about wildly; her restlessness bothered him. He rested a hand on her thigh, stopping her leg from moving further.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at his hand.

"Its okay, its nerve-wracking,"

Katie turned to him, staring him in the eye, she could feel her heart racing inside of her chest. "What if Emily isn't well enough to have a baby?"

Howard smiled again, he wanted to laugh at her worries, but he kept it to himself for fear of upsetting her further.

"Emily is nearly twenty three, she's young and she's healthy, do you really think she won't be able to do this?"

"I know," Katie sighed, "But with her mental health..."

"What about my mental health?" Emily asked, exiting the doctors room with a frown.

"Nothing, I just read that it can effect things, the medication,"

Emily smiled, "I've not had to take anything in six months Katie, I'm doing well,"

"Oh,"

*

Howard stood up, holding a hand out to let Emily sit down on his vacated seat. She accepted his offer and sank into the plastic chair.

"How are you?" he asked, his nerves finally getting to him.

"I have a genetic mutation that means the baby might have six toes, but other than that I'm fine."

"Six toes?" Katie gasped, staring at Emily with worried eyes. Until her sisters lips curled up at the sides. She reached out and hit her playfully on the arm.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist, they're sending off a blood and urine sample, but we're pretty much good to go,"

"That is such a relief," Howard assured her with a hug, he felt a weight fall from his shoulders.

"I'm a Fitch, what can I say? We've been bred to be Fitch not Fit."

Katie couldn't help laugh as Emily's words made her think of their parents. They knew that Katie and Howard were attempting to be parents, she just hoped they wouldn't mind Emily helping out.

"You're sounding more and more like your dad everyday," Howard laughed, prompting a smack from Emily.

"Speaking of dad, does he know you're spending his money on private treatment?"

Katie rolled her eyes, "It's my money, he said to spend it on my future, well that's what I'm doing."

*

*

*

Naomi pushed the key into the lock of the house, the windows were dark suggesting no one was home, which made her feel better as nerves had settled in her stomach on the ride home. She was glad to be back, happy to return to Emily, who, despite everything, she missed terribly. But the thought of the discussion they were inevitably going to have put a barrier between her and happiness at being home. She unpacked her bag carefully, listening out for a sign that Emily was home. She didn't want to be caught unawares. When the familiar sound of keys penetrating the lock and the creaky door squeal open, her heart began to race.

"Might as well get it over with," she sighed, closing the wardrobe door and taking several small steps down to the lounge.

"Naomi is that you?" came a small voice, almost scared. She wanted to laugh at Emily's lack of surety but mostly she wanted to walk in there and give her a long, passionate kiss, quenching the hunger that she'd felt every time she'd fantasised their reunion. She stayed silent as Emily's head popped around the door looking all but happy.

"Fuck!" she gasped, resting a hand against her chest, "Don't do that,"

It was difficult to tell if Emily meant it or if the expression on her face was merely put on.

"I'm sorry," Naomi smiled holding a hand out to the redhead as her frown turned upside down.

"Missed you," Naomi muttered expectantly,

Emily stayed silent, a frown returning to her lips, making Naomi nervous. Until a flurry of red hair flashed across her eyes and she felt lips press against her own, hands move to places she'd longed to be touched and an overwhelming urge of love.

"I take that as a yes then?" she grinned, before Emily silenced her again.

*

The wall in the hallway pressed against Naomi's back, forcing her into a prison of emotion. Their hands moved across each other and Naomi could feel her heart racing with passion. If she wasn't so caught up in the touch of her lover, she'd have laughed at how comical it looked as they travelled up the stairs in a flurry of hands, kisses and faltered actions. As the bed pushed her knees into a bend her whole world fell into place, until Emily pulled away.

It wasn't something she'd thought about, nor did she want to pull away. But it felt wrong to just kiss and make up without talking. She'd made a mistake and it was her job to correct it before they got lost in the moment.

"What?" Naomi asked, her voice barely audible beneath Emily's racing heart.

"We're so good at this," she muttered, knowing that Naomi wouldn't understand.

"So good at what? Having mad, passionate sex?" there was a cheeky grin on her face.

"No, doing this when the first thing we should be doing is talking."

"There will be time for that later Ems, I wanna fuck you, I've fantasised about this for four days,"

Emily bit her lip, taking a deep breath as she thought about how similar they were. Her own fantasies lay incomplete as she stared down at the girl she wanted nothing more than to make love to.

"I did a really terrible thing," Emily sighed, sitting up, "We cant sweep it under the carpet,"

"I don't expect us too, but we've got our whole lives to talk,"

"We've got our whole lives to make love,"

Emily could feel tension pushing Naomi away from her, she'd hoped to bring them together, not push her further away.

"If the private clinic Katie and Howard are paying for comes through, there is a chance that I will be pregnant within a month, we need to talk about that,"

*

Naomi reached out and kissed her, pulling her back into the passionate embrace, but it wasn't enough to silence her. Emily pushed her away.

"Now I know we need to discuss this, you can't kiss me and expect me to forget that we need to talk,"

The blue eyes of her girlfriend looked down, staring away from Emily's wide eyes. For the first time, Emily could tell that Naomi wasn't okay. In the fifteen minutes that they'd been together everything had appeared fine, but now she doubted the evening would go as smoothly as she'd hoped.

"I'm scared," Naomi sighed, a hint of tears in her voice.

"Of what?" Emily asked, reaching out to take Naomi's hand.

"Of what's going to happen to us when you have this baby,"

Emily frowned, "Were going to be fine Naomi, its nine months out of a lifetime,"

"I wish I had your optimism, but we're never going to have what Katie and Howard have,"

Emily was about to interrupt when Naomi continued.

"We're never going to be able to get married and have children,"

"What do you think a civil partnership is?" Emily gasped, confused by Naomi's line of thinking. They had never even talked about marriage before.

"Okay so marriage is possible, but not kids,"

Emily sighed, "Lots of gay couples have children, there's sperm donors and adoption,"

"It's not the same though is it,"

"Where is all of this coming from Naomi? I thought we were happy as we are, living together, being together,"

"You're going to get pregnant Ems, you're going to feel a baby inside of you and it's going to make you want one of your own,"

"So you predict the future now?" Emily snapped, standing up.

"I'm just scared of what will happen,"

"There's nothing to be scared of!"

"Now you're predicting the future?" Naomi snapped back.

*

There was a long silence, filled with tension and confusion. Emily wanted to cry. She'd hoped to make their relationship stronger, not tear it apart. There were so many questions on her mind, so many thoughts that she felt the need to share. But as she opened her mouth to speak, the least expected question slipped from her lips.

"Where do we go from here?"

Naomi looked away, tension building between them, "I have no idea,"

Emily lay down on the bed, stretching her legs out as far as they would reach. She didn't want to be lying on her bed like she wasn't in love with the girl beside her, she wanted to be wrapped up in duvets and Naomi's body. Silence and regret clouded their time together. Eventually Naomi lay down beside Emily, their hands barely touching between them and there they stayed until they both fell asleep.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: So my fictional treats are rotting holes in everyone's teeth? How about some strawberries and cream to mark the nice weather in England? You have to review first...**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks so much guys for all of your reviews and your patience in my lack of updates the past few days. I am currently sat in the uni library completing my first ever allnighter and I choose to update over assignments that are due in in about a weeks time, oh how fun. If I fail my degree, I might just have to attempt to sue Skins...but of course that might fail since if I won Skins might cease to exist, so I'd rather have a Skinful world! Haha.**

**Myself and the lovely Vix844 have created a Church of Meg message board/forum, so we'd love it if you'd take the time to look at it and join! [http://] s3 [dot] invisionfree [dot] com/church_of_meg**

**Thanks and enjoy reading!!!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

She was so nervous she could barely eat. Emily spooned the porridge about the bowl, trying to find an ounce of appetite hidden under her nerves. It was the day they had all been waiting for; the day where Katie expected her to come through for her. It was too much pressure, too much riding on the first chance they were taking and it made her worry non-stop that she wouldn't be good enough. Her stomach was twisting and turning in knots, forcing her to feel sick. She pushed back her chair and ran for the bathroom, just in time. After recovering from her involuntary sickness she turned to find Naomi stood watching her.

"Thought you were supposed to get sick after you get pregnant," she muttered a slight curl on her lips.

"I'm nervous," Emily informed her, hoping for some sign of their old relationships returning. She walked past her and felt a hand rest on her shoulder, the sign she had been looking for.

"Let me make you some toast,"

Emily shook her head, "I wouldn't dare eat anything, it'll just come back up,"

They shared a look, a glance of feelings. Naomi felt warm inside. It had been too long since they'd shared a normal conversation that wasn't just small talk, it felt right. She didn't want to lose what they had, but things just didn't seem to want to right themselves.

"I need to go in a minute; Katie and Howard want to drive me to the hospital, something about not driving for a day after the procedure. I think Katie made that up though,"

Naomi chuckled at Katie's protectiveness; they didn't always see eye to eye but she could never fault her protective motives, even if she went about them the wrong way. Things were going so well that Naomi didn't want to speak; she knew she was going to rock the already unsteady boat, but she could hardly avoid it.

"I won't be coming to the hospital,"

"What?" Emily asked her voice delicate. The look on her face made Naomi's heart melt, she felt guilty; how could she not with the way Emily stared at her.

"I support you in this Ems, you know I do and I wish you so much luck. I just can't be there, okay?"

Emily's eyes filled with tears as she nodded her head, Naomi wondered if she was crying because she had really wanted her to be there, or whether it was because of the hormones the doctors had given her. Naomi rested a hand on her cheek and they shared a moment. But as the intensity got too much, Naomi pulled away, pushing her lips lightly across Emily's in a goodbye kiss.

"Wish Katie and Howard luck too,"

Emily smiled; she still felt sick, but she nodded her head, picked up her bag and carried herself out of the house.

*

*

*

Katie was mad. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but as Howard pulled the car into the hospital car park, she let out an almighty sigh. She peered into the rear view mirror and noticed Emily frowning at her, as they silently climbed out of the car and went into the hospital.

"Can you please not bring our argument here," Howard muttered as she wandered down the corridor. Katie scowled, but stayed silent.

When Emily went into the room, Katie sat down on a plastic seat as Howard let himself fall into the seat beside her. She sighed again, hating that their special day had turned so horrible. She wanted to feel happy; she did feel happy for the most part. But it was suppressed by a feeling of frustration and anger. She let out another sigh, accidentally.

"Just say what you need to say," Howard snapped, folding his arms across his chest.

"Fine," she groaned, turning to face him. "I do not appreciate you telling me on the day that might change our lives that you want to go gallivanted around Scotland in search of some pipedream."

"Some pipedream?" he scoffed, "You really think finding out who I am is some pipedream?"

"There is too much going on right now Howard, you chose a well bad time to bring this up,"

"Is there ever a good time?"

She scowled, her teeth clenched, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" he gasped, pulling his arms tighter around his front, "I just meant that there's never going to be a good time to do this,"

She mirrored his action, pulling her arms around herself; each action animated, putting extra emphasis on her anger.

"If you're in that much of a mood, maybe you should take a walk, I was feeling really happy about today until your mood dragged me down," Howard told her, glaring at her as she groaned.

"Fine," she snapped, standing up and walking off down the corridor, "Have fun being happy on your bloody own,"

Howard shouted her name after her, but she didn't turn around. She felt sad. She didn't want to feel this way, but she couldn't help it. The way he spoke made her think he'd regretted arguing with her, but she wasn't ready to give in. Her feet moved slowly along the corridor, her eyes staring down at her black shoes. She was so focused on a little white scratch that she didn't even notice the other person appear, until they collided.

"I am so sorry!" she gasped, reaching out to steady to other person. As she looked up into the blue eyes, she realised she was staring at Naomi.

"That's okay, how's it going?" Naomi smiled,

"Emily's in now, I was just," she began to say, but stopped as tears caught in the back of her throat. She tried to turn away, to hide her tears from Naomi, to no avail.

They didn't even speak. Naomi just pulled her away; from the look in Katie's voice she could tell something was wrong. She hated the thought of Katie and Howard's excitement being clouded by two lots of problems, so she led her back down the corridor and through the doors out into the gentle breeze outside.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?" she offered, as they fell into a steady pace beside each other.

"It's nothing really, it doesn't matter," Katie sighed, but Naomi could tell it did.

"If it matters to you, then it does matter Katie," she assured her, stopping to face her.

They shared a gentle smile, which was followed by Katie's face reshaping until tears fell from her eyes, straight down both cheeks. Naomi rested a hand on her shoulder and assured her it was going to be okay.

"Fucking Howard, he tells me this morning, out of any day, he chooses this fucking morning to tell me that he wants to go to Scotland to 'discover who he is', it's a fucking joke."

Naomi frowned, she didn't want to judge, but she didn't quite know how to respond, "Discover who he is?"

"He wants to go look for family who live there, it's well bad timing and it's fucking stressing me out,"

Naomi wanted to laugh; instead she just smiled slightly and took Katie's hand to squeeze.

"I don't know exactly what's going on, but I know that Howard is a good guy, he loves you. I doubt he'd do anything to hurt you purposefully. Maybe he just didn't think about the timing."

Katie took a deep breath, Naomi's words and the fact she had managed to get her thoughts off her chest were helping her to feel better.

"I guess,"

The conversation fizzled out, naturally ending as Katie spent a few minutes thinking about what Naomi said. She didn't want to feel angry and when she did it clouded her judgement, somehow it helped to have someone point out the obvious. They wandered around the hospital gardens, silently walking around. Katie turned to see Naomi, deep in thought as they walked.

"Are things with you and Ems still well bad?"

Naomi smiled nervously, "Not that bad, I suppose,"

"But not good?" Katie asked, before Naomi shook her head.

"I don't know what to do, Emily and I are just not talking properly, we're not even spending any time together except at night. She seems perfectly happy with how things are, maybe it's just me."

"The one thing I know about Ems," Katie mumbled, "Is that she is hurting as much as you, she just isn't admitting it."

"Maybe," Naomi sighed.

*

*

*

The tall man, bent over in the plastic chair looked lonely in the long, empty corridor. Katie smiled; she liked to look at him, to watch him from afar when he didn't know she was there. Even if they were fighting, just watching him made her feel better. A doctor appeared in front of him and after a quick exchange of words; Howard followed him towards a door. Katie quickened her pace and joined him with a muttered greeting. Behind the door, Emily lay on a hospital bed in a gown.

"How are you feeling?" Howard asked, barely looking Katie in the eye as he smiled at Emily.

"Good, positive," she smiled back, mumbling nervously. "Bit weird to think a baby could be starting to grow inside me,"

Katie bit her lip. Hearing Emily talk about the possibility sent a shiver of happiness through her. But she couldn't help wonder whether or not to tell Emily the only thing on the tip of her tongue,

"Naomi was here,"

"What?" Emily asked, sitting up quickly. "Where is she?"

"She decided not to stay,"

Emily's voice was small, disappointment obvious, "Oh,"

"She wants things to be better between you two well badly,"

"I know," Emily sighed, staring at her hands,

"So what are you going to do about it?" Katie asked, a little more forcefully than she'd expected.

"I have a plan actually," she muttered, her lips curling in a cheeky grin, "But I'm going to need some help."

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading, you know I love you for it! I hope you'll leave a review because I enjoy reading them, you guys make me so happy, lol.**

**Don't forget the Church of Meg message board/forum[http://] s3 [dot] invisionfree [dot] com/church_of_meg**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you all for the lovely reviews, you know how great you are all taking the time to do that!**

**This chapter makes me happy, it originally wasn't in the plan, but then it became part of the plan and now I see it as an important chapter for the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter...tis actually very very very long for my chapters.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

There was a faint whiff of bacon, eggs and coffee when Katie woke up. She felt groggy and tired after a mostly sleepless night. She'd wanted to sleep, but all she could think about was the embryo that could have been growing inside Emily's womb. The first hour she'd failed to sleep at all, then when she finally did drop off she had a nightmare about cells splitting and mutating. It had taken her another three hours to settle again. As she opened her weary eyes she smiled. Howard's face was staring back at her, his features so familiar that she could have traced them with her fingers, her eyes closed and still recognised him. He placed the breakfast tray in his hands down onto the bed and curled his feet under him on the other side.

"I'm sorry about yesterday and my mood generally," he muttered, a sincere look in his eyes. "I'm sorry for disrupting our life more than we need at the moment,"

Katie's hand moved to his face, her fingers resting over his cheek, as she shook her head. "Its not a disruption, if you need to find them you should do,"

"But we've already got so much going on with the surrogacy," he tried again, but she slid her fingers across his face, silencing him with a simple kiss.

"You need to do this, you need to find out who you are, I don't care if we have a million other things to do, if you want to do this now then you should do it now,"

"What's with the big turn around?" he asked, cautiously.

"Naomi," she informed him, "we had a talk yesterday, she made me see how stupid I was being. You're well good to me, but maybe I'm not always the same back,"

It was something she had always felt, deep down she had never quite believed she was good enough for him, for anyone. The way she'd acted the day before had only proven that further as far as she was concerned.

"Where did that come from?" he muttered, "You know you mean everything to me,"

Katie shook her head, wishing she could take back what she said. Instead she shook her head more determined, mumbling in an attempt to change the subject.

"It doesn't matter, lets eat this breakfast before it gets cold,"

Howard stared at her, watching her eating the food he had cooked for her. He wished she hadn't brushed past the previous topic of conversation. But he knew better than to push Katie on a subject she obviously had no desire to discuss, so he let his lips curl into a grin and joined her in eating.

*

"I can't believe Emily is taking Naomi to Paris!" Katie cooed,

"She's not!" Howard laughed, "A themed evening is hardly the same,"

"No, but it's still well romantic," she sighed, dreamily.

"It is supposed to be the city of love, so if she gets it right it will be," Howard smiled,

"I know!" she grinned, "Not quite as romantic as our honeymoon though,"

Howard leant forwards, letting his lips touch Katie's ever so slightly, before pulling away, leaving her pouting.

He grinned, "I don't think I've ever been anywhere quite as romantic as Italy with the girl I love,"

"You big softy," she muttered, hitting him on the arm playfully.

"Hey!" he called out, pushing the breakfast tray away and launching at her, his fingers at the ready as he dug them into her sides, making her squeal and wriggle about like a snake.

"Stop, stop," she cried out, her face covered in tears of laughter.

"Only if you beg for Howard,"

Katie frowned, trying her best not to laugh as his fingers didn't let up, "Not that again, its mercy!"

"No, its Howard,"

Katie jerked about, squealing louder as Howard increased his crusade.

"Okay, Howard, Howard," she screamed, collapsing against his chest as he let go of her waist, a huge grin plastered over his face.

It was like a magnet pulling two opposite ends together, Howard's mouth moved up towards Katie, Katie's mouth moved down until their lips collided and they were rolling around their hearts beating together.

Katie pulled away, "They'd better not get up to anything," she mumbled, confusing Howard.

"Anything?"

"Naomi and Emily! I don't want anything ruining our chances of being parents,"

He wanted to laugh, but he smiled instead as she mumbled away about Naomi and Emily getting intimate.

"Stop," he sighed, but she carried on talk, "Katie STOP!"

She frowned silently, staring at Howard questioning, why he'd shouted at her, without even asking. He just shook his head and pressed his lips to her own, quickly gaining her whole attention as his hands wandered down her body.

*

*

*

The house was quiet when she arrived home. She couldn't decide whether Naomi was in or not, until she checked the answer machine, where Naomi's voice muttered a message about being out for a couple more hours. Emily smiled, longing to hear Naomi's voice for real. She knew it wouldn't be long, so began to empty the contents of her shopping bags onto the kitchen table. When she had finished setting up, she went upstairs to take a shower and dress for the occasion.

*

The moment she opened the front door Naomi knew something wasn't normal. She slowly walked down the hallway, cautiously, her fingers clutched tightly to her bag with nerves. But then she saw the little blue note on the edge of the banister; 'wear me'.

She laughed at the simple message and at the choice of attire, but did as she was told. When she was stood in front of the mirror, about to apply some make up she laughed again at a red piece of paper; 'don't forget to check yourself out, sexy! Dinners nearly ready, hurry on down'. She finished her make up and wandered down the stairs, stopping at the bottom to pick up a string of garlic to put around her neck. As she laughed about Emily's strange choice of accessories, Naomi pushed the kitchen door open to reveal their normal country style kitchen, laden with red, white and blue, mini French flags hung from the ceiling and the reason for the string of garlic now made perfect sense. It was difficult not to laugh as Emily stood in the centre of the kitchen with a black beret atop her head.

"What's going on?" Naomi asked,

"Bonjour," Emily began with something of a French accent, "Welcome to gay Paris, please take your seats, your waiter will be with you shortly,"

She wanted to laugh as the girl stood opposite cracked up. It was difficult to keep a straight face and after a few minutes, laughter got the better of her.

"Seriously, what is this?" Naomi asked again, biting her lip nervously.

"We seem to have forgotten how to be together," Emily sighed, the thought of it bad enough, "Tonight I thought we could be someone else,"

"Like who?" Naomi asked, her lips curling at the sides.

"Like Ramona and Danielle," she cooed in her fake French accent.

"Ramona is very, very lonely," she muttered, holding a hand out, "Whatever shall she do without her Danielle?"

In between snorts of laughter, Naomi stepped forwards, attempting to sound French herself.

"Here I am my darling Ramona, I am here to take you as my beauty,"

Emily pulled away as Naomi reached out to touch her hand, she turned around and pushed a button on a CD player, waiting as a French soundtrack played out, "Would you care to dance?"

"Would I?" Naomi asked, repeating it after several interruptions of laughter, "I would love to,"

They danced for ten minutes, laughing for another fifteen in between their attempts to do French moves. They finally collapsed from laughter, sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table. A silence fell upon them as their laughter slowed.

"This has been amazing," Naomi grinned, letting her fingers touch Emily's, twisting between them.

"That's just the beginning," Emily muttered, standing up, breaking the moment. If it was any other day she would have embraced the moment and let it lead where it wanted to go, but she knew there was plenty of time for that.

"I have cooked us dinner," Emily grinned, lifting up a couple of pan lids.

"What are we having?" Naomi asked, sitting at the table patiently.

"I was going to get frogs legs and snails but one, I don't know where to buy them and two, they're icky, so I went for Oysters instead. I'm sure you know what they do," she raised an eyebrow seductively, "Plus I heard France have a lot of seafood,"

Naomi couldn't help but smile. The thought of seafood usually made her sick, but she didn't dare tell Emily that.

"The only trouble is I read the instructions wrong and they're a bit chewy,"

Naomi laughed, secretly thankful to Emily's lack of cooking skills.

"So what are we having?" she smiled, hoping for something edible.

"I was going to attempt a spaghetti bolognaise, but you know what happened last time with that, so I went for chicken salad,"

Naomi raised an eyebrow, "Oh sounds great, very adventurous,"

"Hey!" Emily laughed, pretending to be hurt for a few seconds as she served the food. "I really do just need a couple of lessons,"

"Thousands wouldn't believe you, but I do,"

They stared into each others eyes from across the table, a candle lit up between them, setting the atmosphere.

"To the future," Emily muttered, holding up her glass,

"The future," Naomi repeated.

She'd practiced a whole speech, but when it came down to it, Emily didn't even remember what she'd rehearsed.

"I know things haven't been good between us and I know one night isn't going to fix us, but its a start. I promise to try with everything I have inside of me because this is for real, isn't it? You and me,"

Naomi nodded her head, words lost in the moment. She wanted to respond, but the words just didn't appear.

*

After the salad, Emily pulled out her laptop, turning on a slideshow of pictures of Paris.

"I want you to pretend we're not in our kitchen anymore," Emily informed Naomi, "We're in Paris, the night is dark, but the sky is lit up by the Eiffel Tower,"

"It's so beautiful at night," Naomi mused, watching the pictures travel past on the laptop.

"Think of the cheesiest ever love story," Emily continued, picking up two slices of cheesecake from the counter, "Just think about how bad those kind of films are, so bad that they're good,"

"So bad that the men always propose over dinner, in the traditional cheesy ways," Naomi laughed as she continued to reminisce over old films.

She was too busy watching the pictures go past that she barely even looked down at the cake as she picked up a spoon to eat. Something shiny caught her eye and she gasped as Emily knelt down on one knee.

"I will do anything for you Naomi, please will you marry me?"

Time seemed to have slowed down. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours. Naomi's mouth lay open, never been more surprised in her life.

"I," she gasped, trying to speak, but words failed her again.

"Is this where you turn me down?" Emily laughed, nervously, trying to cover up how nervous and scared she really was at the fact that Naomi hadn't said anything for nearly two minutes.

But then her round mouth became flat, curling at the edges until her teeth were showing, her eyes lit up.

"Yes, of course yes!" she gasped, shouting out, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist, kissing her deeply. Their hands found their bodies, exploring places neither had been in too long. They moved away from the table, Naomi's back resting against the stone floor as Emily's body pushed her hard against the cold surface, but she didn't care, neither of them cared about anything but each other as their cake lay uneaten,

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: You must have an opinion, a thought...I really do want to know, I really would love to know what you think of the result of this chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks soooo much to all my faithful readers hanging in there, as you might have seen in my other story, today was a deadline for two of my assignments so that is why I haven't posted for a little while. I actually wrote this chapter days ago, well the majority of it. I hope you enjoy...I suppose it isn't very "eventful" per se, but sometimes fillers are needed and it should still be a nice enough read.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

Katie yawned and rolled her eyes. Howard and James were deep in conversation about flying, alien, superhero giants, or something equally stupid. She was bored.

"Where are Emily and Naomi?" she asked staring at her watch, "They should be here by now."

Howard barely glanced up as he told James about a new game he'd bought. Katie sighed and walked out of the room, she couldn't be bothered wasting anymore time hearing about computer games. She found her parents in the kitchen; her dad stirring a pan and her mum chopping vegetables.

"What time did Ems say she'd get here?"

"About now," Jenna replied,

"Good, if I have to hear about one more spaceship or battleship I will kill myself, James is well boring,"

Just as she popped a piece of raw carrot into her mouth, there was a loud bang signalling the door. Katie rushed into the hallway and threw her arms around her twin.

"Finally, what took you so long?" she asked, not even letting Emily speak before she continued talking. "Do you know how boring your brother is?"

Emily and Naomi shared a look that stopped Katie in her tracks. She looked from one to the other.

"Ew! I don't even want to know, that's well disgusting," she gasped, but Naomi and Emily just laughed.

"Where's Howard?" Emily asked, leading Naomi through the house by the hand.

"He's talking about computer games with James, I doubt he'll even notice you're here," Katie muttered.

"Oh, I think he will," Emily grinned, stopping in front of Howard and waiting for Katie to reach them before she began to speak. "That thing that we were hoping would happen, has happened,"

"What thing?" Katie and Howard asked in unison,

"That baby thing," Emily grinned.

"You're pregnant?" Katie screamed, wrapping her arms around Emily at the same time as Howard.

"You're what?" Rob asked as he entered the room, followed by Jenna.

"I'm pregnant," Emily whispered, "But it's early days so we shouldn't celebrate too much, but it is exciting,"

Katie looked to her parents, noticing the confused look on their faces. She wanted to laugh but stayed quiet.

"How the hell did you get pregnant?"

"She fucked a guy!" James shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't be so stupid," Katie snapped, hitting James on the arm.

"Mum, tell her not to hit me," he complained,

"Don't go crying to mum," she snapped.

"Hold on, did you have sex with a man?" Rob asked, "Who the hell is the dad?"

"Dad!" Emily gasped,

"It's mine," Howard admitted, holding up a hand.

It all happened very quickly, Rob moved forwards, his hands reaching around Howard's neck aggressively.

"You think you can play my little girls around? What is wrong with you?"

"Dad, don't!" Emily screamed out, pulling him away from Howard.

The four of them started laughing, causing another round of confusion from the rest of the Fitch's.

Katie was the first one to speak, "Emily is carrying mine and Howard's baby, it's not actually hers,"

"And you didn't think to tell your mother and me before you gave us a heart attack?" Rob asked.

"We didn't know how to and you weren't even supposed to find out yet," Katie admitted.

"I suppose congratulations are in order," Jenna muttered, looking more confused than congratulative.

*

*

*

After the fuss had died down and had eaten dinner, Naomi sat down in the lounge as the Fitch family sat around the table eating cheese and avoiding the subject of the new Fitch. Naomi usually enjoyed the cheese and talking part of the family dinners, but she had a headache and wasn't in the best of moods. Eventually she felt an arm on her shoulder, fingers securing themselves around her arm. They shared a slight smile.

"Are you okay with everything?" Emily asked perched on the arm, resting her head against Naomi's.

"Yeah," she sighed, unconvincingly.

"Naomi," Emily whispered, then waited for a response.

"I am," she assured Emily, her voice more forceful, "I am so happy that this is working out for Katie and Howard,"

"But?"

"There isn't a but," Naomi whispered, "I just need to get used to this now its really happening,"

"Pretty scary, isn't it?" Emily muttered, sliding into the space between Naomi and the sofa.

"Very, I thought I'd be fine once you became pregnant but it's just making it so real,"

"You're telling me! I already feel different,"

Naomi took Emily's hand and they sat together, silently processing the future.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your own kid?" Naomi whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Sure I have," Emily muttered,

"Do you regret that you won't be able to do it normally?

"No," Emily gasped, "That would be like regretting that I'm gay,"

Naomi didn't know what to say, an awkward silence lay between them.

"Why? Do you?" Emily asked, a look of near horror in her eyes.

"No, not really,"

"Not really?" Emily asked, "That really fills me with confidence,"

"I don't mean it like that, I don't regret being gay. I just wonder what it might be like to be with a man, to have a child that is the product of both parents,"

Emily stared at Naomi their eyes piercing into each other, she didn't know what to say, or do. In the end James and Howard interrupted them and their eerie silence was invaded by alien spacecrafts and the sound of laser guns.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks sooo much reading, you know I love you all for reading my story and for posting comments - so please make me a very happy person!**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks a lot for your reviews, this chapter is a bit of a filler really, but it's also pushing the storyline forwards to an extent. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter.**

**I'm going to London tomorrow until Wednesday, which means I can't update while I'm away, but it means my train journey may be filled with writing. So look out on Wednesday for some updates!**

**Enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The toilet bowl was her best friend; it was a love/hate relationship and no matter how much she hated it, the toilet bowl loved her more. She'd heard about morning sickness; read all the books, but nothing prepared her for the fact it came all through the day. She noted the irony the first time she got sick in the evening, then she wished it was some horrible joke and the sickness would return to the mornings only; but after almost a week of constant nausea, she was giving up hope.

"Do you need me to help you back to bed?" Naomi asked, her hand rubbing Emily's back slightly, in the hope of easing her pain.

"I don't think I'd make it without," Emily replied, stopping abruptly as another wave of sickness took hold.

"This can't be normal," Naomi muttered, her mind on autopilot over the causes of her fiancées sickness. It was difficult to watch, the constant battle Emily was having with food, drink and her contracting stomach muscles.

"Should I call the doctor?" she checked, kneeling on the floor for comfort as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"People get sick all the time," Emily muttered, but it didn't settle Naomi's nerves.

"Surely not this much and this often," she sighed, retying Emily's wayward hair back with a hair band.

"Yes," Emily groaned, pulling away from the bowl and leaning back against the bathroom wall, "I read it in one of those books Katie dropped off, some women get it all day everyday for three months straight,"

"We have another two months of this?" Naomi asked, Emily grinned at her, wearily from the sickness.

"I hope not, it said to watch that I do eat and drink something that stays down or I could become dehydrated,"

"Ill add that to my list," Naomi smiled, rubbing her thigh.

"What list?" Emily muttered.

"Just a list that Katie gave me, things to do, things not to do, food that I should and shouldn't buy,"

"What is with her?!" Emily laughed, resting a hand on her stomach without even thinking.

"I guess she's excited and wants to make sure everything goes okay," Naomi replied. Emily laughed, a long drawn out laugh which she regretted when a wave of nausea hit and she clung to her best friend again.

"What's so funny?" Naomi asked, comforting her as best as she could.

*

"Coo-ee, Emily, Naomi?"

Emily lay back against her pillows, her hands clasped together across her stomach in a protective motion. She smiled at the sound of Katie's voice ringing up the stairs.

"Up here," she muttered, taking a deep breath.

Pushing the door open, Katie grinned at her sister, excited to see her. It had been a few days since she'd last visited, it was driving her insane waiting around. But Howard had told her they needed to give Emily some space to digest what was happening. She didn't agree. It was an adjustment for all of them, not just Emily.

"You're looking pale, what's wrong?" Katie stopped at the foot of the bed, her eyes wide with concern.

"Morning sickness, and afternoon and night," Emily muttered, being careful not to speak for too long.

"Oh," Katie sighed, scrunching a bag up in her fingers, "I guess you won't be wanting any chocolate then,"

Emily smiled, her weary eyes crinkled at the edges, "I could try some, though nothing much is staying down,"

Katie moved to the empty side of the bed, slipping her shoes off her feet and climbing in beside her sister. She rested a hand around her shoulder and another on her stomach.

"You know Howie and I really appreciate this, don't you?"

Emily nodded, "Of course I do, it'll be worth it in the end."

"It will," Katie muttered, letting her head lean against Emily's.

There was a long, drawn out silence, a comfortable silence where they both thought about each other and the baby. Katie wondered if Emily was feeling as close as she was to her other half. They'd spent eight months together in their mother's womb as close as they could get. Since then it'd been one rollercoaster ride after another; sometimes they got on, sometimes they hated each other. But at that moment, Katie knew that they were as close, if not closer than the months they spent before their birth.

"I want to take care of you, tell me what to do," Katie informed her, rubbing the flat belly in anticipation for it's growth.

"I'm fine," Emily smiled, moving her hand to cover Katie's, "Naomi has everything covered."

"Oh, okay," Katie replied, pulling away and sitting back against the bed head, "Can I at least make you something to eat or drink?"

"No thanks," she paused, "Can we just watch a film or something?"

"Sure, what do you want to watch?" Katie asked, jumping out of the bed and opening Emily's TV cupboard.

*

The house was silent when she arrived home from work. It had been a long, tiring day and Naomi wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with Emily. As she crept through the house she found herself in the bedroom, watching Emily, who lay asleep in their bed. She leant down and kissed her softly on the cheek, pulling the covers up over her arm.

"Night beautiful,"

"Don't wake her," a voice muttered.

Naomi turned around, spotting Katie stood in the doorway watching her. She frowned and moved away from Emily's side, pulling Katie with her into the hallway in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" she spat out, frustrated.

"I came to see how Ems was."

"She's fine, you didn't need to come," Naomi muttered.

"I wanted to come,"

Her arms folded across her chest as she gritted her teeth. Katie was just trying to be the caring sister, the caring mother to the child that was growing in Emily's womb. But Naomi was pissed off. She was glad Katie was getting her dream, to be a parent, but it didn't help her mood.

"Are you going to be coming here every day?"

"I don't know," Katie mumbled, frowning.

"You can't just turn up here all the time Katie, it's not fair, we need to live our lives,"

"I think you're forgetting that for the next nine months our lives are the same, she's having MY baby remember," Katie snapped, getting just as angry as Naomi.

"You still can't keep showing up here Katie,"

Voices were running through her dreams, creating crazy images that Emily couldn't decipher. It didn't take long to come to, her eyes opening into the dimly lit room. The voices were clearer now; it was Katie and Naomi, their voices hushed as they spoke harshly to one another.

"She's my sister and she's carrying my baby, I'll do what the hell I like,"

"Not while I'm here you won't, we have a life and we're not going to change it all just for you and your damn baby," Naomi snapped, regretting her choice of words quickly.

"You're well out of line Naomi, I'm just glad Emily can't hear you because I'd hate for her to know what a little bitch you're being,"

"I'm not being a bitch," Naomi snapped back, "I just don't want this surrogacy to take over our whole lives."

"I'm sorry if Emily's niece or nephew is such an inconvenience to you, maybe you should fuck off back to Bristol and leave us to it,"

The two girls stared at each other, their eyes fixed on the other, glistening with a mixture of tears and resentment. They were never going to agree, they were never going to come to some sort of peace. As silence stole the moment, Katie groaned loudly, her feet taking her off down the stairs before Naomi could say anything more. She waited until the door slammed shut behind her, then traipsed back into her bedroom, to curl up with her girlfriend as she'd originally planned.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading, since I'm not going to be here for a couple of days, how about you leave me some messages to make me happy while I'm away?! Lol. Aka, please review, you know I love reading them.**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks so much for the reviews guys! Okay so I managed to update one more time before London calls...this chapter was soooo fun to write, it really was.**

**I hope you enjoy reading!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

A drum was beating inside her head, thumping around, hitting the inside of her skull as she opened her eyes. Naomi glanced around the room, noticing the empty space beside her, that Emily had vacated. She pulled herself out of the bed, slipped on a dressing gown and wandered into the bathroom in the hope of finding her fiancée curled up with her love rival. But she wasn't there. It was a relief really, knowing that Emily wasn't going through hours in front of the toilet yet again. As she made her way downstairs to the kitchen, she heard two voices; one the most familiar sound in the world, the other similar but less familiar. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for the moment she came face to face with Emily's twin again. She'd managed to avoid her for weeks, leaving the house just before she arrived, or waiting in her car until the petit girl left. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Katie, but she was scared of how she would react to her presence. After their argument things were tense and she feared another disagreement.

*

"Morning sleepy head," Emily smiled, sipping a hot drink.

"Kettle's boiled," Katie muttered, pushing a coffee filled mug towards her. Naomi smiled a thank you as she accepted the small gesture.

"Not cheating on me today?" Naomi grinned over the edge of her cup.

Katie's expression was enough to make Naomi want to scream out laughter, her wide eyes and shocked expression at the idea of Emily cheating. Naomi bit her lip to stop herself from smiling as Emily explained about the toilet bowl to her sister.

"I went to the doctors this morning," Emily sighed, pausing as Naomi processed the information.

"Why didn't you wake me? I would have come,"

"There was no need," Katie informed her, "I took her, we needed to sort out the sickness,"

"What was there to sort out?" Naomi snapped, "Most women have morning sickness,"

Silence filled the void, tension building as Emily shifted her footing. She wanted to tell Naomi about her visit, but she was worried about her reaction, she already seemed on edge.

"I, err," she began, "Katie found out about some anti-nausea medication and she made an appointment,"

"But it's normal to get sick," Naomi defended, frowning in confusion.

Emily paused, "They prescribed some pills."

-

Betrayal draped itself across Naomi's face. She'd expected it to happen, worried that Naomi wouldn't like what was going on. They hadn't talked about it, but by the way Naomi had tiptoed around, Emily knew that she was still unhappy about Katie's constant presence. It was difficult to handle, being in the middle of the two girls she loved most. How could she take sides?

"I could have taken you," Naomi muttered, looking hurt, her voice delicate.

The pain in her head was throbbing, hitting the back of her eye as she placed her coffee mug on the counter. It hurt to think, to focus on the conversation in front of her. She didn't want Katie there, she didn't want to share Emily. All of the feelings she'd bottled up were travelling on tears into the back of her throat, into her eyes as she took deep breaths to calm herself.

"It's fine, I sorted it out," Katie muttered, a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

There was another silence, Emily watched her sister's smug expression, staring at Naomi who looked worse for ware. She lifted a hand to her fiancées shoulder as she spotted the glazed look in her eyes.

"Naomi?"

But she just ignored Emily, "Get out," she snapped, staring at Katie.

"What?"

"Get out Katie, just fucking leave us alone, for one day can we have some fucking peace?!"

-

The words hit her like a brick wall, she'd not expected them, sure they could argue but it was all about how much they cared for Emily. It was innocent arguing over the person they shared. She was shocked by the tone of Naomi's voice, by the anger that was building as she continued to shout at her.

"We don't fucking want you coming here every day and fussing over Emily, she's an adult not a fucking child,"

It hurt. Katie didn't want to admit it, but she felt hurt by Naomi's words. She knew she was struggling to accept everything that was happening, but did she have to be so blunt? Emily looked from her sister to her fiancée and back again, tension in the air as Katie muttered a goodbye and pushed past Naomi.

"What was that?" Emily asked, frowning, confused.

"Don't start," Naomi sighed, clutching her forehead as the pain intensified. She couldn't stand it, it was too much. She'd gone too far, she knew she shouldn't have said what she did, but she felt lousy and her head was throbbing out of control.

"Don't tell me not to start, you just upset Katie and for what? You're jealous of the way she's fussing over me?"

"No," Naomi sighed,

"Then what? What the fuck is wrong with you? I am carrying her child, does that mean nothing?"

-

Emily spat out her words, feeling angry that Naomi couldn't seem to be civil to her sister. It was wrong, it was unfair. But then Emily noticed the look in Naomi's eyes, the tears forming and the weak expression.

"You don't fucking understand," Naomi sighed, "Just don't, please."

"Why not?" Emily asked, ignoring her sympathetic thoughts.

"'Cause I have a fucking migraine and I can't deal with an argument right now."

She clutched the kitchen counter, taking deep breaths as she focused on something other than the pain in her head. She didn't want to argue, she didn't want to fight with Emily, not now, not ever. But Emily didn't seem to let up.

"No Naomi, you obviously have a lot of things on your mind, so just fucking say them,"

"Fine," Naomi sighed, biting her lip so hard she drew blood, "I am sick of that bitch, your sister coming around her every single fucking day, when do we get a time for us, eh? When do we get to live our lives while you're off being their saviour?"

"It's not every day,"

"It's as good as, it's a fucking joke, does she even have a job anymore because if she does she needs someone to sack her because she's never there,"

"Naomi," Emily tried, but Naomi just shook her head.

-

Neither of them spoke, a tension filled silence landed between them. Emily was sick of Naomi bad-mouthing her sister, calling her names, treating her like she didn't matter.

"This isn't even about Katie, is it? It's about you," she knew she was moving too close to the edge, but she couldn't stop herself, "It's about poor little Naomi, left out, not included in all the decisions, well newsflash Naomi, the world doesn't revolve around you,"

"I do know that, I'm not fucking stupid,"

"Really?" Emily laughed, "You sure fooled me. You act like none of this matters, then you get pissed off at Katie for actually caring about ME, she's concerned for ME,"

"No she's not," Naomi muttered "She's concerned for the baby, you're just the thing that's carrying it,"

Before she realised what she was doing, Emily's hand had moved up and across the face of her fiancée. It felt right, it felt like the correct thing to do; until it was over. She felt regret as Naomi's eyes filled with tears, her cheek red with a hand print.

"You did not just fucking do that," Naomi gritted her teeth, "I can't do this anymore Emily, I need a break,"

"Do what? Watch me give up nine months of my life to help out my sister?" she hadn't learnt her lesson, anger was building again inside of her chest, "You talk about caring about people? Which part of you wanting to have a baby with a man is you caring about me? Which part of you fucking off to your mum's every time something happens is you caring about me? Talk about selfish, look in the mirror."

The throbbing was increasing, shifting to the side of her face, thumping inside of her ear at twice the previous speed. There was a deathly silence. A silence that despite creating a void between them, was strangely comfortable. Naomi pulled herself away from the kitchen counter, reaching out for the door as she stumbled her way through the house to pack a bag.

*

Emily watched as Naomi carried a hold-all towards the front door. It had happened before, but this time there was something different about the situation. Tears formed in her eyes as she wondered if it would be the last time they fought. She didn't want that. She didn't want their relationship to be over. They'd been through too much to throw it all away.

"I'll be at mum's," Naomi muttered, the words strangely familiar as Emily remembered the last time Naomi had taken a break.

It would have been so easy to tell her to stay, to beg her to try again. Emily wanted to tell Naomi that she loved her, that she desperately wanted to marry her and that their whole lives were meant to be intertwined. But those words didn't form, they didn't even gather in her thoughts. As Naomi opened the door and walked down the path, Emily felt a final burst of anger erupt inside as Naomi glanced back at her with some sense of hope.

Emily's lips pursed, the words rolling off her tongue too easily, "Go on then, fuck off back to your mummy!"

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Did you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing? I'm thinking maybe not so much? But I don't know really, so why don't you tell me?**

**Fabfairy "**This surrogacy thing isn't going to be easy is it?"

E**asy? Not a chance! :-p**

**I hope you don't all hate me too much!**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you to everyone who has review this story, especially the last chapter. Whilst on my trip to London I managed to write a waaay too long chapter, which I have decided to cut in half to two chapters (I wrote about 3 other chapters too for the record, haha), so this is the next chapter...I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

Rivers were flowing, streams meeting the larger stretches of tears as they rushed down pink cheeks. The breeze pushed them off course, forcing them across instead of down, sending the droplets into the holes of her ears. Emily walked along the street, her legs weary the longer she walked. She couldn't believe how much more tired she was now she was pregnant. It wasn't like she had a load to carry being at the end of first trimester. But her whole body ached as she rapped her knuckles against the door. Howard stood on the other side, concern in his voice as he shouted for Katie. But Emily couldn't wait, she needed comfort, she needed someone to hold her. Stepping forwards she pushed her face against his chest, sobbing into it like a lost child finding its mother.

"What's going on?" Katie asked, watching Emily shake against her husband's embrace.

"I have no idea," Howard muttered, pulling back slightly, allowing Katie to take over.

"Emily?" she asked, holding her at arms length, brushing her sister's hair back, away from the tears.

"She, I..." Emily began, but it was just too difficult to speak, so she shook her head.

*

Howard handed Katie a mug of coffee and placed a mug of tea on the coffee table. He didn't know what else to do as Emily continued to cry in her sister's arms. He wanted to feel useful.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked, resting a hand on Katie's shoulder.

"No thanks babes,"

He hovered in the doorway for a few minutes, before deciding to disappear upstairs to give the siblings some time to talk.

It was never easy watching her sister break down. Despite everything they'd been through Katie still felt scared for her.

"Ems, please talk to me," she muttered, wiping the tears from Emily's eyes and cradling her chin in her hands.

"I," Emily began, the tears barely subsiding, "I slapped her,"

"Naomi?" Katie checked,

She nodded her head, the memory of the fight with Naomi invading her mind before she could put up her defences. She couldn't think about it without crying, she couldn't focus on anything but what had happened. She could feel herself losing control, but for the first time in over a year she couldn't seem to get it back. Katie was holding her, comforting her as best as she could, but it wasn't enough.

"Ems?" Katie whispered as she began to wheeze, her chest tightening under the length of her tears. "Ems, don't let this happen,"

It wasn't good for Emily and it wasn't good for the baby. She was scared, frightened for her sister as she struggled with her emotions, panicking in such a way that made Katie feel sick.

"Emily, look at me," she ordered, her natural instinct pulling her together as she wrapped her hands around Emily's face, forcing their eyes to lock.

"I can't do this," Emily cried out, fresh tears covering Katie's hands, but she didn't care.

"Yes you fucking can," she told her, "You've done this so many times Ems, don't you dare lose it now,"

"It's too hard," Emily cried, wiping her tears, still struggling.

"No it's not. You're Emily Fitch, you're fucking amazing and you can fucking do this, now suck it up and repeat after me; I will be fine,"

Emily swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath, trying to take back control.

"I will be fine," she repeated, feeling herself slowly turn around and head back to the light at the foot of the tunnel. She didn't take her eyes off Katie until she was breathing normally and Katie's mouth was curled into a smile.

"Better?"

Emily nodded, wrapping her arms around Katie's waist.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Katie asked, the reason for Emily meltdown still unclear. Emily nodded and told her about the fight.

"She only cares about you, you know?" Katie muttered when Emily finished talking, "We both do."

"I know, it's like she can't seem to handle any of this. I don't understand it Katie, she said she'd be there for me. I knew she wasn't completely happy, but she promised she'd be there,"

Katie took a deep breath, "I think you should call her, tell her what just happened,"

"No," Emily snapped,

"She should know."

"Please Katie, just let me sort my relationship out myself,"

"Okay," Katie whispered, "But you're staying here tonight and on that I'll have no arguing,"

"Yes mum," Emily saluted, making the two of them laugh.

*

*

*

"Nai-Nai" Lexie called out, jumping around on the bed. Naomi rolled over, her eyes falling upwards in a natural roll. She loved Lexie, but sometimes she just wasn't in the mood to entertain. The morning after the biggest fight of her life was one of those times.

"Lex, go find mummy, Naomi has a bad head,"

The little girl's eyes fell, melting Naomi's heart with regret. Lexie was excited, she always was when Naomi came home. She hated that she'd lied to her, a good nights sleep was all she'd needed to get over her migraine.

"Mummy has to wash or she'll be dirty like Barney," Lexie pouted.

Naomi sighed, "Best come and sit down here then hadn't you?!"

Lexie's eyes grew wide and she jumped across the bed to Naomi's side. The little girl tucked herself up under Naomi's left arm and played with the pattern on Naomi's t-shirt.

"So who's Barney?" Naomi asked, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulder.

"My dog,"

"You have a dog?" Naomi asked, confused by her lack of knowledge on said pet.

The blonde haired child nodded her head, resting a finger in front of her lips.

"But he's secret, can't tell mummy, 'k?"

Naomi bit her lip, frowning, "Lexie, where is this dog?"

"He lives in the garden with all the trees,"

"Mummy would be very cross if she found out we had a dog because daddy is allergic,"

"But daddy knows all about him and he doesn't make him sneeze like regular dogs,"

"Regular dogs?" Naomi asked, still confused by the little girls story.

"Barney is magical he goes invisible,"

"Oh!" Naomi laughed, only stopping when she saw the disappointed look on her sisters face,

"Daddy laughed too when I told him,"

"I'm sorry Little L, tell me all about him,"

"Well he's white and very, very hairy and he has big massive teeth and spiky up ears,"

"Wow, he sounds like a great dog,"

"He is,"

*

*

*

She waited until Emily was asleep before she crept downstairs and picked up the phone. Katie knew Emily wouldn't be happy, but she couldn't stand by and watch her be unhappy.

"Naomi?" she asked as a voice greeted her.

"Katie?" the voice asked back,

"Yeah it's me, look about you and Emily," she began, but was quickly interrupted.

"That's none of your business, she's my girlfriend, I can sort my own relationship out,"

Katie took a deep breath, "I love her too you know, everything I do, I do because I love her and I know that's why _you _do the things _you_ do,"

Naomi paused, she knew Katie was right. They were more alike than either of them cared to admit sometimes; the thing they shared was the one thing that mattered a lot to both of them.

"I know," she whispered,

"I don't want to fight with you Naomi, I don't want to hurt Emily anymore,"

"Anymore?" Naomi asked, concern in her voice.

"She was a mess you know, when you left, she nearly had a full on panic attack,"

Naomi was quick to answer as worry wiped out all other thoughts, she felt guilty and sick to the stomach with concern.

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, she didn't want to call you,"

"I won't tell her if you wont," Naomi muttered, relief running through her as her lips curled into a smile.

"Thanks," Katie paused, searching for an olive branch, "We have a scan in a couple of days, you should come,"

"I don't know if Emily would want me there, or if I want to see her,"

"You liar," Katie muttered.

It was obvious that Naomi was trying to save face, pretending to care that Emily might not when her there, when Katie knew that Naomi would love nothing more than an excuse to see her.

She tried to complain to the twin, but Katie cut her off, "You do want to see her and she wants to see you but you're both too full of anger over your stupid fucking fight, stop being such a loser and say you'll come,"

"Okay," Naomi mumbled, "Text me the time and place and Ill be there,"

"Great,"

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice asked, making Katie jump as she dropped the phone on the floor. She turned to see Emily stood with her arms folded. She retrieved the phone and muttered a goodbye.

"That was mum, she says hi," she tried, but Emily shook her head.

"I'm not fucking stupid Katie, I know that was Naomi, what did you say to her?"

"Nothing," Katie spoke softly, but Emily's eyes bore into her and she caved, "I invited her to the scan,"

"You fucking idiot, what did you do that for?!"

Katie laughed, "You love her, she loves you and you're both fucking stupid. Just call it fate,"

"I could call it a lot more than that, you shouldn't get involved Katie," Emily cried out, frustrated.

"I shouldn't get involved?" Katie asked, "Well then how come you're stood there wondering what she said?"

"Shut up,"

"She said yes by the way,"

Emily swallowed a lump of tears that had built up in her throat as relief spread through her. She didn't want to admit that Katie was right, thankfully she didn't need to as Katie disappeared out of the room leaving her alone to think about Naomi.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading...I can't wait to share with you all the coming chapters, but mostly I can't wait to know what you think of this chapter, so drop me a line the usual way!**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for the reviews, I was pretty shocked by the number I got in a short space, haha. But it's all good, you know I love a good review, so they're all very much appreciated. Since this next chapter is all ready and set to be posted, I thought I'd post it and make anyone still around happy!**

**The best is yet to come...hahaha. Though best isn't the best way to describe it.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The sun shone through the blinds reflecting off the metal kettle and right into Naomi's eyes. She cursed loudly.

"You should watch your mouth," Bill muttered, "I don't want to sound like a dad but Lexie could come in,"

"Sorry," Naomi sighed, "It was an accident,"

"What was an accident?" Gina asked, entering the room with a pile of old newspapers,

"I just swore,"

"Don't worry about that love,"

"Yeah," Naomi muttered, letting her mind drift off as her family went about their usual activities.

She watched her mum tidy up the kitchen in front of her, moving pots and pans around nosily. It still felt weird seeing her so domesticated after the years she'd spent moping around. It amazed her and pleased her that things were so good for the woman who never used to be able to keep a man around longer than five minutes.

"How do you make a relationship work?" Naomi mused.

Gina slipped into the seat opposite her daughter, ready to listen and advise her where possible.

"What's going on?"

"I told you about Emily having a baby for her sister, well it's fucking me off. Katie is constantly there, we don't get any peace and quiet and for once I wish it was just the two of us,"

"It sounds like poor Emily is stuck in the middle,"

"Poor Emily?" Naomi scoffed, "What about me?"

"Now, now Naomi, I know you're not normally selfish,"

"I'm not being selfish" Naomi snapped, biting her lip in frustration.

But she regretted her words almost instantly. She was being selfish and she knew it.

"Emily is pregnant, her hormones are all over the place, things are happening that she can't control and on top of all that she has to be a buffer to the two most important people in her life,"

"I'm horrible," Naomi muttered, realising exactly what she had done.

"You're not horrible Nomey, you're upset and you're scared. But I really think you have nothing to be scared of, you're a beautiful person and Emily knows that,"

Naomi's lips curled up at the edges as she thanked her mum for her kind words, she felt a huge weight fall from her shoulders.

"Mum?" she whispered, waiting for a reaction, "Emily asked me to marry her a few weeks ago and I said yes,"

"Oh Naomi!" she grinned, moving out of her seat and wrapping her arms tightly around her daughter, "Congratulations, I am so happy for you,"

"Thanks mum,"

"You've found a good life for yourself, haven't you?" she asked, a few tears glistening her eyes.

Naomi nodded, "I have, we both have,"

"If it wasn't for Lucas I could die right now and I wouldn't regret where my life has ended up," Gina muttered, wiping her damp eyes.

"Thanks for that mum," Naomi laughed, the paused, "Who's Lucas?"

"I was waiting for the right time to tell you," Gina grinned, "I'm pregnant,"

"Oh my God!" Naomi grinned, mirroring her mums previous action, pulling herself out of her chair for a congratulatory hug, "That is fantastic, I am so happy for you,"

*

*

*  
For the first time in weeks Katie woke up to an empty bed. She looked around the room under sleepy eyes, hoping to see her husband getting changed or something similar. But he wasn't there. She rolled over and glanced at the clock; it was an hour later than she expected, almost two hours after Howard had gone to work. She frowned and reached for the phone on her bedside table.

"Howard?" she asked as a voice came on the other end of the phone, before she realised it was his voicemail message, "Answer your phone,"

She continued to lie in bed, not really sure why she didn't want to get up, but enjoying the relaxation just enough to forget that Howard hadn't called. She wasn't one to cling to her husband, but sometimes she expected him to be there and any change from the norm was strange. She tried to dial his number again, but he didn't reply.

"Howard Richard Dixon, answer your bloody phone! I know you're meant to be hearing from the agency today, please call me when you find out, you know I hate it when I don't see you before work,"

It was frustrating to no end that he wouldn't answer. She wondered if she would be better driving to his work and seeing him in person, but she thought her time might be better spent looking after the sister she could hear throwing up in the bathroom.

*

*

*

"Can I get you something to eat? Or some tea? Oh but they said water, didn't they?"

Emily rested her head in her hands, she was tired and cranky. She'd barely slept the night before, she still felt sick and she wasn't really in the mood to be poked and prodded at the hospital scan.

"Howard is working 'til twelve, but he'll meet us at the hospital," Katie informed her, talking so fast that Emily could barely keep up.

"Katie please, I've got a headache,"

"Oh no, can I get you something for it? Although I don't think you're allowed painkillers, we should ask the doctor later, how exciting is this?!"

Emily took a deep breath, attempting to compose herself before she bit Katie's head off.

"Katie,"

"What? What can I do? Do you need anything?"

"Katie, stop,"

"But," she began, Emily interrupted her.

"I love that you care, but if this is going to work, you're going to have to leave me alone,"

Katie's eyes filled with tears, shock causing her upset. She needed to feel part of what was going on and it physically hurt when she was pushed away. She felt frustrated.

"You're as bad as Naomi, I'm just trying to help, to make everything run smoothly," she tried.

"I know you are and I love you for it," Emily muttered, "I really do, but you need to take a step back Katie,"

"Thanks for taking her side," Katie snapped,

"It's not about sides Katie, it's about me and the fact that sometimes you're too much. I love that you want to protect me, that all you want to do is take care of me. But I need to have some me time once in a while, Naomi was out of line the extremes she went to, but she wasn't far wrong either,"

Katie stared at the floor, taking a deep breath as she sniffed back tears, "I just want you and the baby to be okay,"

"We will be," Emily smiled, resting a hand on Katie's shoulder, "Just take a step back."

*

*

*

They sat in a line, shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg as the three of them waited for their appointment.

"What time is it?" Katie asked nervously.

"Ten past," Howard replied, holding up his watch.

"Five minutes," she responded, looking in her bag for something to distract her.

"How long left?" Emily asked a minute later.

"About four minutes," Howard replied, laughing at the twin's similar worried looks.

"Where is she?" Emily asked, looking up and down the corridor. "If she said she'd be here, then where is she?"

"She probably got held up," Howard tried, but it was little comfort to her.

"Emily Fitch," the nurse finally called.

Katie jumped out of her seat as fast as she could, followed by Howard. Emily stood up as the couple waited in anticipation for her to lead them to the room, instead she lifted out her mobile.

"I have to call Naomi, I'll be thirty seconds,"

"Emily!" Katie called, but Emily disappeared around a corner, returning a few seconds later.

"Any luck?" Howard asked.

Emily was frowning, "Her phone was turned off, she never has her phone off,"

"Maybe her battery died," Howard tried.

"Emily Fitch," the nurse called again.

"Look Emily, I know you want her to be here, but we have to go in,"

"I know," Emily sighed, following her sister towards the room, her mind on Naomi until the scan began and her attention was captured by the niece or nephew growing inside of her.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading...if you review this story, I will put you in my suitcase when I go to the USA!**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for all the lovely reviews, I really appreciate them! Thanks for the review **jjfan, I won't leave it there, simply because I think this next chapter is a good place to leave it rather, haha. Please don't kill me.

**Unfortunately my life is getting busy these next few days - I have a presentation on Monday and I haven't even started it yet, but that's what tomorrow is for. I will hope to post some more soon, fingers crossed. But it might not be til Monday, depending on life. Thanks for all your patience while I've been out of action.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The little girl wrapped her arms around Naomi's shoulders as she carried her sleepy sister out of the car. She felt numb. Her head was cloudy and her heart was attempting to repair itself. She carried the sleepy toddler towards the house, struggling to unlock the front door. When she dropped the keys she cursed loudly, then cursed silently for swearing in front of Lexie. Her eyes filled with tears. She bent down to retrieve the keys as the front door opened and her damp eyes were met by two frustrated brown ones.

"Where have you been?" Emily asked, barely pausing, "I've been trying to call you for three days, Katie said you were going to be at the scan, where were you?"

Naomi bit her lip to stop herself from crying as she stepped into the house.

"Can I at least put Lexie down before we have this argument?" Naomi asked, sighing.

*

Emily returned to the lounge, prompting her twin sister to continue a story she had been telling, when she finally finished she glanced up at Emily.

"Was there someone at the door anyway?"

"It was Naomi, would you mind going?" Emily asked, hovering on her feet.

"Why?" Katie asked, frowning.

"Because I need to talk to her,"

Katie sighed, "What do you have to talk about?"

"I need to know why she didn't answer her phone,"

"Sorry but she was in the wrong here, she cant just come back here and act like nothing has happened,"

"Katie!" Emily gasped, "It's not like that, she's come home and now we have to talk about everything. We hardly left it in a good place,"

"I suppose, I'm sorry I just don't want her to upset you again,"

"She didn't upset me," Emily tried, but Katie sighed again. "I wasn't upset about her, okay? I was upset about the situation,"

"The situation? Yeah the situation really made you slap Naomi! Don't fool yourself, it was all her,"

"Bitching about me again Katie?" Naomi asked, entering the room.

"I didn't mean, I..." Katie began, but was quickly cut off.

"Katie can you just go?" Emily asked.

"I don't know if I should, I don't want you to get in trouble again,"

"I won't hurt her again, I," Naomi whispered, the words caught in her throat as she struggled to keep herself together, "I need her,"

Emily looked at Naomi, puzzled by how emotional she was becoming. It confused her, she wanted to ask what was going on but something stopped her.

"How about I go upstairs?" Katie asked, Emily looked to Naomi for the answer.

"Fine whatever," she muttered uncaringly, sitting down on the sofa as Katie left the room.

"So?" Emily asked, waiting for Naomi to speak, "Why haven't you answered my calls?"

"I," Naomi began, but she didn't know what to say, words caught in her throat again, "I lost, I, my phone, it,"

"You lost your phone?" Emily offered,

Naomi nodded. Emily watched Naomi's eyes as they grew deeper, she searched for the girl she loved, but there was something shielding her. Her heart ached at the thought of Naomi in pain and wondered if the situation was getting to her more than Emily realised.

"Lexie's going to be staying here for a while," Naomi muttered,

"How long?" Emily asked, confused by her fiancées sudden revelation.

"I don't know, but quite a while,"

Emily's voice was growing louder as she spoke, anger intertwining her words, "I can't believe you, after everything you put me through for not asking you about the surrogacy and you expect me to be okay with a three year old living with us?"

"Please," Naomi muttered, her voice delicate, but Emily barely noticed.

"You seem to think that you can do this, that you can walk in and out of here, calling all the shots. When we can talk, when we have some space. This is supposed to be a relationship. I admitted my mistake with the surrogacy, but you keep making mistake after mistake and it's alright, just as long as you're fucking in control,"

She didn't want to shout, she didn't want to get angry, but her hormones were flying everywhere and her anger just seemed to boil over. Naomi was clearly upset, but she couldn't find an ounce of sympathy as she felt her breathing grew harder. The door opened quickly and Katie was standing there analysing the situation.

"You fucking bitch, I knew this would happen. Don't you understand?" Katie screamed, standing so close to Naomi that she wondered if she was going to hit her, "She is fucking pregnant and all this stress is well bad for the baby and for Emily,"

"Katie, don't," Emily muttered, managing to calm herself before it got too much.

"No, I'm not going to watch her do this to you,"

Tears filled her eyes and Naomi could feel her body begin to shake. She didn't want to cry, particularly in front of Katie, but she couldn't not. It was too much to handle, her emotions were all over the place and she felt sick. She couldn't stand the stifling atmosphere, so she stood up.

"I need to," she stuttered, tears polluting her words, "I'm going out,"

"What about Lexie?" Emily asked, frowning, confused by Naomi's meltdown. "What about me?"

But it was too late, Naomi was already halfway out of the house, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading...looks like there was only enough room in my suitcase for a few of you, anyone want to jump into my suitcase to France? It's only a week, but we're taking a car so there's more space!**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews, I appreciate and enjoying reading each and every one of them, they really do make my day!**

**This chapter I have spent quite a while on really, adding bits, taking bits away, etc. But now I am mostly happy with it. I hope you enjoy...**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The streets were cold. A wintry breeze still hung in the air freezing tears against her skin as Naomi desperately tried to hold herself together. But she couldn't. She was broken in half and the one person who could help put her back together wasn't there. Infact she was angry, Emily was pulling herself further away from Naomi, which cut even deeper into her recent wounds. She regretted leaving Lexie alone, wishing she had her there to hold, to help stop the tears that wouldn't run dry. She hated hiding away, keeping secrets from the girl she loves, but sometimes lies were easier to speak than the truth. Her legs felt weak as she walked around. She didn't have a destination, nor did she have a plan. The unfamiliar streets finally became familiar again as, the evening took the final strands of natural light out of the sky, she found herself walking back down her own street.

"Naomi?" a voice asked as she stopped at the front gate. She turned and her eyes locked with Howard's.

"What are you...?" she asked, frowning as she realised her voice was barely audible.

But Howard seemed to understand, "I'm picking Katie up, are you okay?"

It was a simple question, the easiest to answer when you meet an old friend on the street, or when you're the happiest person in the world. But she was in neither situation; she was at the point in life where the question only prompted one reaction. And that reaction came in all its glory as tears flew from her eyes, covering her pale face with red blotches whilst her body shook as she lost control of the tears that never seemed to go away.

"Come with me," Howard muttered, not going to comfort her, but instead opening the passenger door of his car, letting Naomi sit down before he climbed in beside her and pulled the car back down the road.

"What, about..." Naomi stuttered through tears.

"She wont mind, probably wont even notice I'm late,"

She tried to share Howard's comforting, gentle smile, but she just sat there silently as he drove them away.

*

*

*

Bare feet pressed into the soft carpet as Emily paced the room. She was angry, she was frustrated, but mostly she was worried. Naomi wasn't one for floods of tears which made he wonder what had made her so upset. They were supposed to share their lives together; their happiness, their anger, their tears. But communication seemed to be their biggest problem.

"Would you sit down?!" Katie muttered, frustrated by Emily's pacing, "I'm the one waiting for Howard, who is ten minutes late,"

"At least he didn't storm out crying leaving you to look after his baby sister,"

"You make it sound like hard work, she's asleep,"

The two girls shared an eye roll as Katie's words came too soon.

"Mummy!" came a piercing cry from the little girl upstairs, Emily moved towards the door, but Katie stopped her.

"Do you want me to go? You should call Naomi, tell her she needs to come home,"

Emily bit her lip, but nodded. Katie disappeared up the stairs as Emily picked up the landline and dialled Naomi's number.

*

*

*

"Someone's popular," Howard asked as Naomi's phone rang out for the third time. She continued to sob, cancelling the call.

"Is this about Emily?" he asked, pulling the car up on the side of the road.

Naomi shook her head. The words were on the tip of her tongue, threatening to escape her lips. She wondered if telling him would be for the best, sharing her worries, her problems with Emily usually worked.

"Talk to me Naomi, there's obviously something you need to get off your chest, tell your uncle Howard,"

She let out a small snort at his joke, his unserious side made her feel at ease and she could feel the words ready to slip from her lips. The car grew silent as he waited patiently for her to speak. She appreciated the time.

"There was a," she began, "Emily asked if I lost my phone but I didn't, it..."

The words wouldn't reach through her shield of tears that insisted on returning; Howard's hand rested on her shoulder, providing her with comfort as she sobbed.

"Just take your time,"

"A fire," she mumbled, the few words giving Howard something to go off.

"There was a fire?" he asked, rubbing her back as Naomi nodded through tears. "Where? At your mums?"

Naomi nodded again as Howard continued to piece together what was going on, "Is everyone okay?"

Her body stopped shaking, her tears halted as she looked up into Howard's kind eyes. She couldn't say the words that she desperately needed to say, instead she just shook her head.

"Naomi," Howard began, pulling her hands into his, "Who isn't okay?"

The tears returned, falling down her cheeks like waterfalls, her face stained with old and new tears, she stumbled over a few words before finding the strength she needed to say what had to be said.

"My mum, my...my mum and Bill, they both," tears stopped her in her tracks, "Died."

A silence filled the car. Howard's hands slipped around her as she felt her grief begin to slide away in his arms. He didn't talk, he just held her for a while, waiting for her to take the next step. After a while the tears slowed and she felt overwhelmingly better than she had before. Lexie and Emily were still the main things on her mind as she thought about where her life had ended up.

*

*

*

"How is she?" Emily asked, entering the bedroom where Katie sat stroking the little girls hair.

"She's asleep, finally," Katie whispered, "I think she had a nightmare,"

The twins left the bedroom and sat back downstairs, Katie stared at her watch wondering where Howard was. He was never late.

"Are you still worried about Howie?"

"Wouldn't you be?!" Katie muttered, sighing.

"At least he's only twenty minutes late and not three days,"

Katie laughed, she knew it wasn't really meant as a joke, but it was the only way to help herself feel better. She didn't normally worry that much about Howard, but ever since they knew their baby was going to be okay, she'd felt clingier. She loved him and that was what mattered to her.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon, he's not normally late," Emily assured her, but it was little comfort to her overactive imagination.

*

*

*

The silence had been okay, for the first five minutes, but then Howard felt a little uncomfortable. He knew she need time, but he couldn't help wonder if he was the right person to give her that time.

"I'm really sorry," he whispered, filling the silence the only way he could think of.

Naomi bit her lip and nodded, wiping her eyes as the tears slowed. She knew she was putting a lot on Howard, telling him something she hadn't even been able to tell Emily, but something felt comforting about the way he accepted her tears and waited patiently for her to guide the conversation.

"I lost some parents too, you know?!"

Naomi looked up, confused. She'd met his parents at the wedding and didn't hear anything about them passing away.

"Not my parents who were at the wedding," he muttered, almost reading her mind, "I was adopted,"

"I didn't know," Naomi whispered,

"I don't really talk about it," he informed her, "I was adopted by my other parents when I was eighteen months, we only found out a few days ago that my birth parents had died in an accident,"

"Oh," Naomi gasped, feeling strangely comforted by his story.

"I haven't even told Katie yet,"

Naomi noted the similarities in their situations and felt a ray of hope as she felt a connection with Howard that she'd never felt before and she wondered if that was why he was the first person she told.

"I have to look after Lexie," Naomi muttered, "I don't know if I can be enough,"

Howard's lips curled at the sides, "I don't know if I can be enough for my baby," he told her, "But we just have to do the best we can, you know?!"

"Yeah!" Naomi muttered, "How do I tell her that she's never going to see her mum and dad again?"

Howard paused, "I wish I could answer that, but as long as you give that little girl all the love and attention she needs, then she will get through this, at least she still has you,"

Another silence fell between them. Howard pondered the situation as he slipped his arm back around Naomi's shoulder.

"Have you told Ems?"

It was the question she had been dreading, but she knew it would come up. Emily had to know, she needed to tell her everything.

"No," she sighed, "I know I need to, but I don't think I can do it right now, things are just so fucked up,"

"Okay," he smiled, not judging her or ordering her to tell Emily the truth, just being there as any good friend should. She let herself slip against Howard's shoulders in one final moment of comfort before the inevitable real world would force her to confront everything she was fighting so hard to avoid.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you for reading...I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I really do want to know what YOU think about this story, so drop me a line using the link below.**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you ever so much for the reviews, the last chapter as you will have read was a big one and I really do appreciate all of your wonderful comments. So thanks everyone for making writing such a pleasure.**

**I hope you enjoy this next chapter...**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The car pulled up outside the house and Naomi slipped from the passenger seat. She felt a little better. It was going to take a while, but she hoped that Howard's support would be the first step. The front door of the house flung open and Katie rushed into Howard's embrace, before hitting him on the arm.

"You idiot, you're forty minutes late, where the fuck have you been? I've been worried sick,"

"I got held up, sorry babe," he muttered, glancing at Naomi with a comforting smile, "Lets go home,"

Naomi stood by the gate as Emily stood in the doorway, both looking at each other as though they were in a western, ready to shoot at any moment.

"Are you coming in?" Emily asked, noticing the very red cheeks of her fiancée. Naomi nodded and followed Emily inside.

"I think I should take Lexie and stay at a hotel for a few days," Naomi muttered as the two girls stood in the lounge awkwardly.

"Why?" Emily asked, wondering what was going on and why Naomi seemed like a different person to the one she knew.

"Katie was right, you're pregnant, you don't need stress." Naomi whispered, staring down at the floor as she spoke, "I don't want to make you ill and I definitely don't want to cause trouble,"

"You're not causing trouble by being here Naomi, this is your home,"

"I know," Naomi bit her lip, not looking up, "I also have a few things that I needs to deal with and I don't think its fair if I put them on you, like looking after Lexie; she's my responsibility, not yours,"

"Naomi?" Emily whispered, feeling a strong sense of foreboding, "What is going on? Why isn't Lexie staying with your mum?"

Naomi bit her lip to stop herself from crying at the mention of her mum, she watched her foot tapping nervously. Emily watched her movements, she could see that something had rattled Naomi, but she couldn't tell what it was. Though she could tell that something was wrong.

"Naomi, I love you, everything that has happened I want to get through it and I want us to get married in front of all our family and friends to show the world that we're forever,"

It was difficult to see on Naomi's downward facing cheeks, but Emily could see droplets of tears slide down Naomi's features and Emily's heart broke. She took a step forwards, desperate to comfort the love of her life, but she hesitated as she continued to speak.

"The only way we can do this Naomi, the only way we can be the couple we want to be is to talk to each other,"

Naomi's foot continued tapping against the floor, a nervous movement. Naomi wanted to tell Emily, she wanted the words to form, but something else came out instead.

"It's too hard,"

In one swift movement, unable to handle Naomi's tears any longer, Emily stepped forwards and enveloped her fiancée in her arms.

"Then I'll be here until it gets easier,"

Pushing her wet face into Emily's shoulder, Naomi felt a weight lift from her own. Her heart, twisted up with pain, was beginning to get easier to house.

*

*

*

Something was puzzling Katie. But as she sat in the car home she just thought about it, she continued just to think about it as she ate dinner and later climbed into bed. Howard wrapped an arm around her shoulder letting her rest in the crook of his arm.

"Did Naomi get out of your car?" she finally asked, after rewording the question repeatedly in her mind for hours before.

"Yes," he admitted,

"Why?" Katie didn't want to sound annoyed or jealous, but she couldn't help the way the word fell from her lips.

"I saw her on my way to pick you up and I gave her a lift home,"

Katie frowned, she doubted what he was telling her, but she felt guilty for not believing him. She didn't know what to say, so she just sighed.

"Just say it," Howard said, putting the newspaper he'd been reading down.

"I," she began, trying to find the best words, "I get the impression you're not telling me everything,"

Howard folded up the paper and put it on the beside table, slipping his other arm around Katie's waist.

"That's because I'm not," he admitted, quickly continuing before Katie could even open her mouth, "But I can't tell you everything,"

"Why the hell not?" Katie snapped, pulling away from his embrace.

"Naomi has something going on in her life right now that she hasn't even told Emily, when she does, you will find out,"

"You cant just say that and leave it at that Howie, that's well unfair!" Katie moaned, folding her arms across her chest.

"She confided in me babe, I can't tell you until Emily knows,"

"Fine," Katie muttered, frustrated by his lack of sharing. She hated it when they kept secrets from each other. The one thing she couldn't stand in life, was lying.

Howard took a deep breath, which captured Katie's attention. She could tell there was something else lingering between them.

"I still haven't told you about my birth parents," he muttered, warily as Katie's face grew wide with frustration. "I didn't mean to keep it from you, I promise, but I've been trying to deal with how I feel about it,"

"About what?" Katie asked, frowning.

"About the fact my birth parents died in an accident when I was a baby,"

Katie's eyes grew wide, a look of sympathy, sadness and pain passing through them as she looked deep into her husband's eyes. She didn't know what to say. They'd spent a few months searching for the people who brought Howard into the world, but neither of them had expected it to end this way.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, feeling a sadness that was unfamiliar to her. "I know how much you wanted to find them,"

Howard smiled as Katie's arms slid around his waist in a comforting squeeze. It felt good to tell her, to share with her something he was still trying to deal with and get her support in return.

"I did find them," he muttered, "Just not the way I expected to,"

"Do you know anything else about them?" she asked,

"I have the number of my birth mums sister, I was thinking about ringing her,"

"That's a good idea," Katie muttered as they let silence fill the room. Neither of them had anything else to say, so they just lay cuddling until they fell asleep.

*

*

*

It had been a while since Emily had traced Naomi's skin with her fingers, but it felt so familiar. She drew a line along her arm, up towards her neck until her fingers ran through Naomi's hair. It was greasy and unkempt, but it didn't bother her. She stroked down the hair like you would a child's. There were so many signs that Naomi wasn't her usual self; the untidy hair was only one more. Emily wanted to know what was going on, she felt a desperate urge to help Naomi through whatever it was that was defeating her. She noticed the clock read nine. Normally Lexie would have been demanding attention by now, but Emily remembered several occasions through the night where Naomi had got up to see to her crying sister. She'd pretended to be asleep, but after the third lot of crying she felt a small form sleeping in Naomi's arms. It was a restless night for all of them. A buzzing from Naomi's bedside table signalled a phone call that Emily quickly took in the hallway.

"Hello this is Johnson and Daughters Funeral Home, I'm returning a call for Naomi Campbell,"

The greeting caused words to fail Emily as she felt a wave of sickness pass over her. Wires that weren't connected slotted into place. She muttered something and then hung up the phone, standing in the doorway to the bedroom where Naomi continued to sleep with Lexie by her side.

*

Two brown eyes were staring at her as she woke. Naomi looked up, staring back at Emily, letting her eyes betray the feelings she was trying to lock up inside. She could see a sadness in Emily's eyes that she had never seen before; sympathetic, heartbroken.

"You got a call this morning," Emily whispered, her voice delicate as she spoke. "It was from a funeral home,"

Tears threatened to escape her lids, Emily's saddened expression adding to Naomi's need to cry. She wondered how much Emily knew, but realised it didn't matter, because she would have to tell her everything anyway.

"Naomi," Emily mumbled, her voice laced with tears, "Who died?"

Naomi knew that Emily knew or at least suspected the answer, but she needed confirmation before she could accept that it was true. The tears that threatened her had now over flown down her cheeks and Emily was cupping her face, wiping the tears as quickly as they came, her own eyes overflowing.

"Mum and Bill," Naomi whispered, feeling a sense of relief that Emily knew the truth.

Emily continued to stare into Naomi's eyes through tears that blurred her vision. She was too scared to speak, but afraid that she should say something. Until Naomi continued to talk, the fact that Emily knew the hardest part made it easier for her to talk about the rest.

Naomi took a deep breath, "The house was on fire, I'd taken Lexie out for the day and we came home and it was on fire,"

She had to stop as the tears that fell extinguished her words.

"Bill got out, he was fine, but they said he went back to find mum," she gasped, "But he didn't get out after that,"

A hand slipped over Emily's mouth and she wondered where it came from, before realising it was attached to her own body. She felt weak as Naomi's words hit home, she'd suspected something unpleasant, but not quite as bad.

"Lexie," she muttered, the first thing to come to mind as she stared down at the little girl beside them. She slipped her arms around Naomi's body, holding her in an act of comfort.

"I don't know what to do Ems, I don't know how to do this,"

Emily took a deep breath, holding Naomi's hands between them, "You don't have to know what to do right now because we will work it out. I'll be right here beside you, I promise,"

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading...is this chapter like Marmite to you? Do you love it or hate it? Only you can tell me, by pressing the button below.**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you all so so so much for the wonderful reviews, they really do keep me going and help me to produce more and more chapters. I'm feeling really sad because this story doesn't have that far left to go (another half a dozen chapters, maybe a bit less) and after that it's going to be over. I won't even be able to write another sequel because I'm off to the US in not very long, less than a month. But for now we shall carry on with this story...enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

The first few days were slow and difficult, but Emily made sure they took them one step at a time. The mornings were the hardest.

"Do you want weetabix?" Emily asked Lexie, who shook her head, "What about corn flakes?"

The little girl shook her head persistently, Emily sighed, "But you love corn flakes,"

Lexie shook her head again, adamant that she didn't want whatever breakfast item Emily suggested.

"You have to eat something," Emily informed her, somewhat more demanding than she had meant to. The little girl let out an ear piercing scream.

"Okay, okay, please don't scream, Naomi is trying to sleep,"

"No she's not," Naomi muttered, rubbing her sleepy eyes, "What are you screaming for today Little L?" The little girl didn't respond.

Emily jumped in, "I asked her what she wanted for breakfast and everything i suggested she shook her head and then decided to scream,"

"Lexie, you can't keep doing thing," Naomi sighed, sitting down beside her sister, "You need to eat your breakfast,"

"I want mummy," she whispered quietly, Naomi took a deep breath and brushed the little girl's hair from her face.

Telling Lexie had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do, but she seemed to accept what had been said. Despite that she had become difficult, more so than normal. It was only to be expected, but it didn't make it any easier.

"Lexie, do you remember what I told you the other day?"

Lexie's small, broken face nodded, full of pain and frustration. It broke Naomi's heart to look into her usually lit up face and see such an adult perspective of the world.

"Mummy has gone to a special place with daddy where we can't visit" Naomi repeated, partly for herself, "and I know you miss her so much because I do too, but we need to eat so that we can get happier, because we're not very happy right now, are we?"

Lexie's eyes filled with tears and Naomi felt her own face grow wet as her sister shook her head.

"Mummy and daddy loved you very, very much, but you know what?"

"What?"

"I," Naomi began, but the words caught in her throat as her emotions took control.

Emily jumped in, sitting down beside them, "Naomi and Emily love you very, very much too and we want to help you get happy again, but it's just going to take some time,"

Naomi nodded, moving closer to Emily to allow her to slip an arm around her waist before kissing her cheek.

"Thank you,"

"Now Lexie Lou," Emily continued, "Are you going to eat anything or is it bath time?"

"Barney wants toast," Lexie muttered.

*

*

*

Howard's words were repeating themselves over and again in her mind as Katie sat at the table facing him. They were difficult to process and she was pissed off that he'd even suggested such a thing.

"Say something, please," Howard begged, anticipating a response.

"You want to go to Australia to visit a woman you don't even know?" Katie checked; Howard nodded. "Are you fucking mad?"

"Thanks for that," Howard sighed, rolling his eyes.

"We are having a baby Howard, you can't just disappear halfway around the world on some pipe dream,"

He could hear the anger in her voice, but pushed it aside as he thought about what he wanted and needed.

"It's hardly a pipe dream, this is the closest thing I'm going to get to the woman that gave birth to me," Howard snapped, "I thought you were okay with my search,"

"When it was taking you to Scotland, yes," Katie shouted, "Not taking you fifty thousand miles across the world,"

"It's more like ten thousand, but that's not the point, you said I should be able to find out who I am,"

"You know who you are," Katie muttered, regretting it instantly. She didn't know how he felt, what he was going through. All she knew was that he had two lives, one he knew very little about.

"I don't know where I came from," he informed her, staying relatively calm after her comment.

"But Australia?!" she snapped, unable to let go of a feeling of inferiority that she hadn't expected to feel.

"She moved out there last year and she wants me to visit, I have to meet her Katie, I have to talk to her in person, besides she's already bought me a ticket,"

"What about me? What about our baby?"

He was getting annoyed at Katie's selfishness, he needed to do this, but she couldn't seem to understand that.

"I want you to come with me Katie, she's willing to pay for you too; she wants to meet us both so much. They're open tickets so we'll be in no rush, we can see how it goes,"

"No rush?" Katie asked, "How long do you expect to stay there for?"

Howard couldn't look her in the eye, "I don't know,"

"I can't go Howie, Emily needs us here, we can't go," Katie sighed.

But he wasn't taking no for an answer, "I need to do this, why are you trying so hard to stop me?"

"I'm not, but our baby needs us,"

"I'm sure we can spare a month or two, it's not due for another five and a half months,"

"A month or two? We'd miss too much, the kicking, finding out if it's a boy or girl,"

He was sick of arguing, he wanted to go. He didn't want to leave her behind, but he had to do this. He took a deep breath.

"Fine, you stay here and I'll go alone, the tickets for Wednesday,"

The chair fell to the floor as Katie pushed herself out of it quickly; she could feel anger rising in her chest that she couldn't hold back.

"You're fucking joking, aren't you? You're not leaving me for months, not now, not ever,"

"You can't order me around Katie, this is a partnership,"

"I was gonna say the same to you, you can't just leave me here,"

"I said you could come,"

"And I said I fucking cant,"

Four eyes locked each other as silence filled the gap between speaking. They'd reached a point in their argument where there was never going to be a clear answer, neither of them wanted to let up, neither were willing to compromise.

"I need to do this Katie, why can't you see that?" Howard asked; his words quieter, calmer.

"Just go then," she snapped, so angry that she didn't care what he did, just so long as they stopped arguing. She turned around and walked out of the house, slamming the front door behind her.

*

*

*

Once Lexie had eaten and was bathed, Emily joined Naomi in front of the television.

"Is she okay?"

Emily nodded, "She's watching Bambi on our bed,"

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Naomi asked; concern laced through her words.

"She asked for it, but I think it will be okay, we should probably go watch it with her so she's not alone when Bambi's mum dies,"

Naomi nodded. A comfortable silence filled the room as Emily's fingers intertwined with Naomi's, it was a small gesture, but it was enough.

"I think we should talk about us properly," Emily mumbled, "But I don't want to until you're okay,"

"I'm okay now," Naomi sighed, lifting their hands up and twisting them around, restlessly, "I still feel numb but I want to fix us, that'll help a lot,"

"Okay," Emily smiled, resting herself against Naomi's body.

"You were right about being pregnant," Emily informed her.

"What do you mean?" Naomi asked.

"I do feel different about children," Naomi pulled away, looking carefully at Emily, "Maybe one day I would like a child of my own, but I want you to be here with me and I want it to be our child, or you could have the baby, or we could adopt, I really don't mind."

Naomi waited for Emily to finish, unsure when to respond. She waited until silence filled the room.

"I think that I want to be a mum one day too, but for now my priority is Lexie, I hope that's okay,"

Letting her lips curl at the sides, Emily took Naomi's hand into hers and rested them against her chest.

"The most important thing to me right now," Emily began, "Is helping you give Lexie everything she needs, to create a family to make up for what you both have lost. Nothing will replace your mum and Bill, but I am here with you to do everything we can to make sure that little girl grows up with all the love she needs,"

Naomi took her hand out from Emily's grasp and bit her lip as she looked up at her, she didn't want to lose Emily, but she didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to do.

"I meant what I said the other day Ems, Lexie is my responsibility and if you don't want to take that on, then you don't have to," tears filled her eyes as she said the second hardest thing in days, "I don't expect you to stick around for us,"

She watched Emily shake her head, tears filling her own eyes as the situation became too much for the both of them.

"I meant what _I_ said when I asked you to marry me Naomi," Emily responded, barely focusing on Naomi's offering, "I want to be with you and whatever comes with that, well I'm all in, okay?! I am here for keeps and I will marry you only when you're ready and I will be there for Lexie as if she were my own sister, I promise,"

Naomi felt her body take over as the tears rolled down her cheeks again, she couldn't believe she had any tears left as Emily held her. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have found someone so accepting.

*

*

*

The door opened a tiny crack and a small face appeared between the gap. Katie frowned on sight of the little girl, then smiled as she realised who it was.

"Hello Lexie, do you remember me?"

Lexie shook her head as Naomi came up behind her and opened the door fully.

"What have I told you about answering the door?!" Naomi muttered, before noticing Katie stood facing them. "Oh, hi,"

"Is Ems here?" Katie asked, the door opened fully and Naomi stepped aside.

Two hollowed out eyes on Naomi's face made Katie wonder what was going on for her, which led her to think about Howard, which in turn made her want to cry. She followed Naomi and her sister into the lounge where Emily lay on the sofa watching television.

"Katie, what are you doing here?" Emily asked, sitting up, shocked to see her.

"If you don't want me here just say," Katie snapped, wishing she had a way of stopping herself from speaking before she thought about her words. Emily's brow furrowed as she stared at her sister.

"I'm sorry," Katie mumbled, "Can we talk?"

Emily nodded and Naomi made an excuse to leave the room, taking Lexie with her.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked as Katie sat beside her on the sofa.

"Howard has a ticket to go to Australia, leaving in a couple of days,"

"Australia?" Emily gasped, "Why Australia?"

"I told you about him looking for his adopted parents, well his birth mum's sister moved out there and will fly us out to visit,"

"You're going too?" Emily asked, "For how long?"

"I'm not going," Katie snapped, "I don't want him to fucking leave either when you're carrying our child,"

"If he needs to do this, then where is the harm?" Emily muttered, wary at taking Howards side.

"He wants to go for a few months,"

"Months?" Emily gasped, changing her standpoint, "Is he serious?"

Katie nodded. The twins stopped talking as the room filled with a piercing scream and Lexie came running in completely naked.

"You come back here Lexie Louise Browning, you need to take a bath,"

"No," she squealed,

"Lexie you can't keep saying no to things, you have to have a bath,"

"Not until mummy comes back from the special place," the little girl screamed out,

"We've talked about this Lex, mummy and daddy aren't coming back, remember?!"

"Barney says no!" Lexie screamed, before running out of the room, followed by Naomi.

"Jeez, she's a bit of a handful," Katie muttered, before noticing the horrified look on Emily's face.

"Did Howard not tell you?"

Katie shrugged her shoulders, frowning. Then it dawned on her that whatever was wrong with Naomi must have been the reason why Lexie was there.

"Katie, Naomi's mum and step-dad were killed in a fire at their house,"

Almost choking on her breath, Katie gasped, staring at her sister, searching for some sign that she was telling a very bad joke. But the pain in her eyes told her she was serious. Katie's hand fell to her mouth.

"Is she looking after Lexie now?" she asked,

"We both are," Emily nodded,

"I had no idea," Katie muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Kind of puts your own problems into perspective, doesn't it?" Emily whispered, "You should sort things out with Howie, Kates,"

"I can't," Katie mumbled, "I don't want to speak to him,"

"Come on Katie, he loves you,"

But she couldn't do it. She was angry, she was frustrated, but mostly she was disappointed that he didn't mind missing out on vital moments of their child's development. They were meant to be in it together, but for the first time, she doubted how much he actually cared.

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading...I think I should stop writing this story for all your Marmite haters out there. :-O Jokes. Basically I LOVE Marmite, but I do respect that not everyone does. So disappointed to only find 1 person to say they do love it though. Haha. What next? Chocolate anyone? Just review and there will be some in the post...**


	18. Chapter 18

_**Author Note**_**: Chocolate all round!!! Thanks for the reviews, I love them, simple as. My presentation which I've been working towards doing has been pushed back 2 days, so that gives me a tiny bit more free time at the moment. Even though I really should be doing my work.**

**Don't forget about the Church of Meg message board, there's some fun chats going on at the moment, so feel free to drop by and have a chat about our favourite show.**

**[http://] s3 [dot] invisionfree [dot] com/church_of_meg**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The phone hit the work surface with such force that Naomi thought she might have broken it, but upon inspection she figured it was probably quite durably.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, slipping her arms around Naomi's waist.

Naomi smiled at the feel of Emily's enlarged stomach on her back, "Work need me to come in for a couple of hours,"

"I'm at work all day," Emily reminded her as Naomi turned around in her arms.

"I know, I tried to tell them that I couldn't get a babysitter, but they as good as threatened my job," she groaned, banging her fist on the counter.

"What about Katie?" Emily suggested, "With Howard away she's been moping more than usually, especially after going part time at work,"

Naomi hesitated, it wasn't that she didn't think Katie could do the job just fine, but after everything she felt uncomfortable leaving Lexie with anyone other than Emily.

"She'll be fine with Katie, it's not like she's never spent time with her," Emily muttered, reading Naomi's mind.

"Okay," Naomi muttered, showing her appreciation with a kiss.

"I'll give her a call while you sort out Lexie's breakfast,"

*

"You have my mobile, there's my number at work and if she starts asking about mum or Bill then tell her exactly what I said,"

Katie nodded her understanding, "Don't worry, we'll be fine,"

"We really need to get her into nursery," Emily pointed out as she slipped a packed lunch into her bag, "That way you can go back to work properly and your new boss wont be able to get mad,"

"I know, it's just finding the time to sort it out in between appointments with the damn solicitor, why can't they make things simple?"

"I'll call some," Katie offered, wanting to feel useful.

"Call some what?" Naomi asked, puzzled by Katie's offer.

"Some nurseries, I've been looking at some for when the baby is born, I know which are the good and which are the bad ones,"

"That would be a huge help Katie," Naomi smiled, "You should quit work altogether and be a full time housewife, you've already saved me twice today,"

Emily burst out laughing, causing a funny look from both Naomi and Katie, who also asked her what was so funny.

"Firstly, you as a housewife? I actually cant picture it," Emily laughed, "Secondly, I thought you were supposed to be all for women's rights and independence Naomi,"

Naomi shrugged, before she noticed the time and made a quick exit to avoid being late for work, closely followed by Emily.

*

*

*

The ear piercing scream filled Katie's ears as she held the little girl's coat in her hands. She stared at her, waiting patiently for Lexie to stop screaming. But she kept going until she was too tired to scream anymore.

"We can only go to the park if you put your coat on," Katie informed her, barely fussed by the previous scream.

"No!"

"Lexie," Katie smiled, kneeling in front of the blonde haired child, "Do you want to go to the park?"

Blonde hair moved about as Lexie nodded her head adamantly.

"Then you will have to put your coat on, it's not warm enough to go without,"

"No!" Lexie screamed, "Barney says no!"

Katie sighed, pondering over her options. She put the coat down and sat on the floor, offering the space in front of her for the little girl to sit on; she did.

"Tell me about Barney,"

Lexie frowned, confused at her inability to wrap Katie around her little finger. She stayed silent for a moment.

"He changed colour," she whispered, her voice tiny.

"Why did he change colour?" Katie asked, finding herself strangely interested in the little girls answer.

"Because he got sad," Lexie muttered, "He wants to cry all the time,"

"That's a shame,"

"It is a shame," Lexie copied, "He doesn't want to be sad, but he misses mummy and daddy,"

Katie watched the little girl as she bit her lip and she noted the similarity in her appearance to Naomi. She also noticed the two tears sliding down each cheek.

"Does anyone else miss mummy and daddy?" Katie whispered,

Lexie nodded, her face down turned, "Lexie does,"

"It's okay to miss mummy and daddy," Katie informed her, "But do you want to know a secret?"

Lexie nodded. "Even though mummy and daddy aren't here anymore, you can still think about them and talk about them,"

Lexie shook her head, her eyes still full of tears, "Naomi doesn't talk about them so Barney doesn't,"

"Maybe Naomi's scared to talk about them in case it upsets Barney," Katie mused, "I bet if Barney started talking about mummy and daddy then Naomi will know its okay,"

The little girl stared at the floor for a while, her expression thoughtful as she pondered what Katie had told her. Katie sat patiently opposite her, until Lexie began speaking again.

"Barney says he wants to bake cakes,"

Katie smiled, "Then Barney can bake a cake," she muttered, lifting the little girl off the floor and taking her into the kitchen.

*

*

*

The house was silent when Naomi arrived home from work. At first she was worried that something had happened. But as she entered the kitchen she found her lips curling up at the sides. Katie stood at the counter helping a grinning Lexie mix something in a bowl, the two of them talking about Barney.

"Good afternoon," Naomi smiled, putting her bag on the table and standing in front of them.

"Barney's making cakes," Lexie grinned, holding the bowl so that Naomi could see the contents.

"Wow, it looks like Barney is having a good time," Naomi grinned,

"Lexie's having a good time too," the little girl said as she tried her best to stir the mixture.

"You're doing a really good job as well," Naomi informed her, "Can I taste them when they're done?"

Lexie nodded her head as Katie left her side, "Keep mixing while I talk to Naomi,"

The two of them walked into the lounge whilst Lexie continued to stir the mixture in the bowl.

"Is everything alright?" Naomi asked, slightly worried.

"Yes, everything has been fine, I called a couple of nurseries and St Jude's can accept her instantly if you're okay with it,"

"Thanks Katie, that's really great," Naomi smiled, "I really appreciate your help today,"

Katie smiled, "It's been fun,"

"Did you have any trouble with her?"

"I did at the beginning, but then I talked to her and she told me she misses mummy and daddy, I think she wants to talk about them but she thinks it's not okay,"

Naomi frowned, "Why would she think that?"

Katie paused, uncertainly, "Because you don't talk about them,"

"Oh," Naomi sighed, sitting down, depleted, "I don't think I'm doing very well,"

"No," Katie said, "You're doing a great job, I don't know much about children losing their parents but she seems like a normal, happy child mostly. You shouldn't put yourself down,"

"It's not been easy," Naomi mumbled, rubbing her tired eyes.

"I think you make it look easy,"

Katie watched as Naomi averted her gaze, her blue eyes staring down at the floor as her shoulders shook. She paused for a moment, before stepping forwards and letting her sister's fiancée into her embrace.

"Why is it taking so long to feel right again?" Naomi muttered, more to get her thoughts out than searching for an answer.

"There's no set time for grief," Katie responded, as Naomi pulled away from the embrace.

"When I get like this, I wonder how I can ever help Lexie with how she's feeling, it gets too much."

"You're not alone, you know that right?" Katie asked.

Naomi let out a smile and a nod, "Thanks Katie, for everything."

*

*

*

"Do you want a cake?" came a little voice as Emily entered the house, she looked down to find Lexie holding up a plate.

"Oh yes please, they look lovely,"

"Katie helped me make them," Lexie grinned as Emily took a bite.

"Ooh, its very tasty,"

The little girl ran back into the lounge as best as said could with the plate in hand, Emily followed her, watching her place the plate on the coffee table and climb onto Naomi's lap.

"Evening," Emily greeted, kissing Naomi quickly on the lips, before sitting down on the sofa beside her sister, her hands slipping naturally over her bump.

"I invited Katie to stay for dinner, hope that's alright,"

Emily raised an eyebrow, looking from her sister to her fiancée, with an element of surprise in her voice.

"Did I miss something?" she asked, letting out a small chuckle as Katie and Naomi explained.

"Speaking of dinner, I need to go check it's not burning, and it's time for bed Lexie Lou,"

"Aww!" Lexie sighed, following Naomi out of the room, moodily.

The twins laughed as they said goodnight. Emily rubbed her belly and turned to smile at Katie, who was watching her.

"What?" she asked rested against her.

"I was just wondering what it feels like,"

Emily smiled, "Pretty peaceful at the moment," she muttered, pulling Katie's hand to her stomach.

"It'll be a few weeks before it starts kicking, right?" Emily nodded, "Hopefully Howie will be back by then."

A natural silence filled the gap in conversation. Emily wrapped an arm around her sisters shoulder and pulled her close.

"Have you had any word off him after he left?"

Katie shook her head, "No, other than the call saying he was going, nothing."

"You should go Katie, nothing's happening here for weeks; the baby won't start kicking until after the next scan and you could come back in time for that,"

The pregnant twin looked into her sister's eyes, watching her reaction to the conversation. She frowned as Katie's eyes glistened, but she just shook her head, the tears never quite forming fully.

"I think you'll regret it if you don't," Emily sighed. "You and Howard have too good a thing to throw it all away."

"I'm not throwing anything away, he knows where I am; I don't want to go," Katie muttered, her voice laced with tears, but her words harsh and cold.

She rested herself back against Emily's shoulder, her hand moving again to the stomach that housed her baby. There was so much going on, so many feelings that she couldn't describe. But the one thing she did know was that she wasn't going anywhere.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading this chapter, it was originally going to be longer, but dates didn't make sense and things just didn't work out. It's pretty long as it is! Reviews are easy to do, I think most of you have done them before...so feel free to go do what you normally do, cheers!**


	19. Chapter 19

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for all of the lovely reviews, I can't say enough how much I enjoy reading them and appreciate them all. You make writing all the more pleasurable.**

**mila superstar – that is a good question, what jobs do they all do, it's also a difficult question; Katie teaches History at a high school, I know that much. But to be honest I have no idea what Naomi and Emily do, I just know they do something, lol. Katie's is the only job to really be mentioned properly (at the start of this sequel of the story). Emily probably works in business administration because she did her degree in that and I'd like to say that Naomi is doing social work…but quite frankly I have no idea, lol.**

**Don't forget about the Church of Meg message board, there's some fun chats going on at the moment, so feel free to drop by and have a chat about our favourite show.**

**[http://] s3 [dot] invisionfree [dot] com/church_of_meg**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The ceiling paper had circular patterns running across it from end to end. It was white with a deep grey-blue that reminded Katie of the English sea. She paid more than enough attention to the little grey lines between the circles; attempting to ignore the dull ache in her stomach. As she turned to the void beside her, it was harder to forget the void in her heart as she wished that Howard was there. Ever since Emily became pregnant they'd talked about the scans, about finding out if they were having a boy or girl. Both of them wanted to know. They'd discussed waking up together on the day, lying in bed for a while, pondering the sex of their unborn child. But from the moment she woke up, she felt nothing but sadness at Howard's absence. There was a time when she wouldn't have been alone even without Howard there and she thought about the children she very nearly had. It still hurt to think of the loss and the fact she would never feel their child moving inside of her.

*

When the doorbell rang Katie noticed the time and jumped out of bed, rushing around the room in an attempt to get dressed, before the doorbell rang out again, reminding her to answer the door.

"About time," Emily smiled as the door opened.

"Where are we going?" the small voice of Naomi's sister asked. Katie frowned.

Naomi muttered, "I hope you don't mind, Bills parents were going to look after her but his dad's got Osteoporosis and it flared up last night,"

She wasn't sure how she felt about the little girl's presence, but she knew it wasn't that important. All that mattered was the baby. She nodded her head with a smile on her face that felt more forged than genuine. But Emily and Naomi seemed to accept it.

"I guess Howard's still not back?" Emily asked, Katie shook her head, "Are you ready to go then?"

"Almost," Katie whispered, disappearing back up the stairs.

Naomi turned to Emily with a frown, "She seems down,"

"I should go see if she's alright," Emily sighed, following Katie up the stairs.

The door lay open and Emily could see Katie sat on her bed, making no effort to get ready. She stood in the doorway, waiting for her sister to notice her. Instead she watched as the red head wiped her eyes. Emily bit her lip and moved towards her, putting an arm gently around Katie's shoulder.

"I miss him so much," she cried, looking up into Emily's eyes. "We talked about today so many times, why isn't he here?"

Wiping the tears from Katie's eyes, Emily smiled slightly, "You've still got me and Naomi, I know it's not the same,"

"You're right, its not," Katie snapped before letting several more tears fall.

"I'm sorry he's not here,"

"Me too," she cried.

*

*

*

"Emily Fitch," the doctor called.

Emily watched Katie looking down the corridor, searching for her husband, a painful similarity to the last scan; she couldn't help worry after Naomi's earlier absence. A sudden burst of relief set in as the dark red mess of hair of Howard Dixon appeared at the other end of the corridor. Katie's eyes grew wet as she set off at a run towards her partner. It was hard not to smile as Katie almost knocked him down with a hug and their lips fell silently against the other's.

"I couldn't stay away any longer," Howard muttered, wrapping his arms tightly around Katie's petite form, breathing in her scent.

"I love you so much," she sobbed, pushing her face into his chest.

"I shouldn't have gone without sorting things out with you, you were right, we need to do this together," he mumbled into the top of her head as he kissed her.

"I shouldn't have told you you couldn't go," she responded, "I was well selfish,"

"It's done now," he groaned, running his hands over her back, "I've missed this, you,"

"Emily Fitch," the doctor announced again.

The now-happy couple clamped their hands together and led the way into the room.

*

*

*

It was a new experience for Naomi as she held Emily's hand and watched the screen where the baby's image appeared. She bit her lip, looking from the mass of black and white blobs that made up her future niece or nephew. She couldn't help but wish it was their baby they were looking at. But it didn't matter when she saw the look on Katie and Howard's faces. They stood together, as much of their bodies touching as possible as they stared in awe at their perfectly formed baby. The room was silent except for the sound of the four of them breathing heavily while watching the scan intently. Naomi leant down and kissed Emily on the lips, a huge grin passing across her face.

"Would you like to know the sex?" the doctor asked and Emily looked to Katie and Howard, waiting for the answer.

"Yes," they both spoke quickly and in unison.

"You're having a boy," the doctor smiled as the married couple shared a look of excitement.

"And he's okay?" Howard checked.

"He's developing nicely; he's got a very healthy heartbeat,"

*

*

*

The four of them sat in a pub holding up glasses of champagne and apple juice, as Howard proposed a toast.

"To our boy," he grinned,

"Our boy," the group copied in unison while glasses clinked together.

"Boy," Lexie copied holding up her hand. They all laughed as the little girl returned to colouring in a picture.

"Have you thought of any names?" Emily asked, rubbing her swelled stomach.

Katie and Howard looked to each other as they both answered, "Yes,"

"You have?" Katie asked, smiling.

"Of course I have," he smiled.

"Tell me what you like," Katie muttered, letting her fingers intertwine with Howard's under the table.

"I had a couple of boy's names; Andrew or William, after my dad; what about you?"

"I like those," Katie smiled, "I thought about Jack but it's such a popular name, I don't want him to be one of thirteen Jacks in his class at school,"

Howard let out a small chuckle, "Any others?"

"Harley, Robert, Howard,"

"Howard?" he asked, grinning.

"Why not?!"

"Howard Junior," Emily laughed,

"Why's that funny?" Katie asked.

"It's not really," Emily muttered, "But HJ doesn't work as a nickname,"

"Well, what do you think?" Katie asked, turning to Emily.

"Frederick?"

The name fell out before she even realised what she'd said. But the shake of Katie's head made her remember.

"Okay maybe not,"

"Why not?" Howard asked, "I kind of like it, Freddie,"

"Katie's ex-boyfriend was called Freddie," Naomi pointed out.

"Oh yeah," Howard laughed, "Lets stay away from ex-boyfriend names,"

Naomi and Emily shared a glance.

"Then you can forget about Danny," Naomi informed them, "And Scott,"

"And Peter, John, Vikram and Steven," Emily added.

"Wasn't there a Joey?"

"There was," Emily answered, "And a Joel,"

"Okay we get the picture," Katie rolled her eyes, laughing along with the group.

"What about Matthew?" Naomi asked, "Strong, biblical name,"

"What are you talking about?" Lexie asked, looking up from colouring in.

"We're talking about names for Katie and Howard's baby," Naomi informed her sister.

"The one Emily is looking after in her tummy?"

"Yes," Naomi smiled.

"Barney says to call him Barney," she told them, before returning her focus to her picture.

"I actually dated a Barney," Katie laughed,

"You did?" Emily asked, "When?"

"Primary school,"

"Barnaby Jones?" Emily gasped, Katie nodded, "Please tell me you're joking, he was disgusting,"

"It was only for two weeks," Katie laughed, "Then he farted in my face so I dumped him,"

After waking up feeling so lousy, it was nice to relax and finally feel happy again. Katie enjoyed listening to her family discussing names and sharing the moment with each other. It was everything she had wanted and more.

*

"Katie," Howard whispered in her ear, mumbling something that Emily and Naomi couldn't hear. Then the older twin nodded her head and looked up with a grin on her face.

"We want to ask you something,"

Naomi swallowed a mouthful of champagne, "Shoot,"

Howard took a deep breath, "We want the both of you to be his godparents,"

"Me?" Naomi asked, not sure whether to frown or smile.

Katie nodded, "Emily was an obvious choice of course and we'd talked about you, but seeing how you've coped with Lexie, we know you're the right person for the job,"

"Thank you," Naomi smiled, "That means a lot,"

"To Emily and Naomi," Howard proposed another toast, which the group copied.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thanks for reading; I don't have anything to offer you today…but feel free to review me some ideas for what to give you if you review the next chapter!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Author Note: Thank you sooo much for all the lovely reviews and comments, you guys just make it all worthwhile and I couldn't thank you more! This story is so close to the end, I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but at least 3. I've already written most of 2, so we're reaching the final hurdle. I hope you enjoy, I really do.**

**Read the author note at the end because I NEED YOUR HELP!!! So check it out to be involved.**

**jr - I don't hate Naomi, though it may appear that way, haha. I think after the first set of angst with Jody dying, she did so well providing interesting storylines that another tragedy was the way to go. I am actually very sad at the dead of her mum and step-dad and part of me wishes they didn't have to go. But I also know the story wouldn't have taken the direction it has in many ways, without that event. It's a bittersweet moment I suppose. But Naomi is quite a lonely character, even in the show and I guess physical loneliness is something she hasn't had to deal with in the show as much as in my story. As for the drinking, Naomi started drinking a bit when she realised that Jody's death was an accident and alcohol wasn't the biggest enemy in the world, basically just through the years she's had a few drinks. I don't think she drinks as much as she did, but a bit of champagne or a glass of the good old Pino Grigio won't hurt! I haven't really included her return to drink in the story but I think it's a case of accepting what happened back then and gradually returning to 'normal'. **

**MidnightShow9 – apparently twins comes from the female side of the family, but they also apparently skip a generation. So baby Fitch is probably more likely to have twins than Emily or Katie. Baby Fitch is a single baby though!**

**Sorry for the essay, here's the chapter:**

*

*

*

The bed felt comfortable against her aching back, lying down being the only real relief from the extra weight she had to carry. Her hands very naturally rubbed the ever enlarging bump. It felt good to hold it, a sense of closeness to her nephew.

"Lexie, Emily is resting," Naomi's voice came from the hallway as the door opened and the face of her little sister peered around the door.

"Are you resting?" she asked Emily, not accepting Naomi's words.

"I am," Emily smiled, "But you can join me if you want,"

The little girl accepted the approval and climbed onto the bed, jumping across to Emily's side.

"Careful Lexie," Naomi mumbled, entering the room and perching on the edge of the bed.

"You sound just like mummy," she groaned, "I couldn't ever jump on her bed,"

Lexie didn't let up as she bounced, holding her arms out as she span around. Naomi watched as her little sister span out of control and landed awkwardly on top of Emily. It was like watching a film in slow motion as Lexie's face scrunched up, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Oh dear," Naomi muttered, pulling the little girl off the bed and into her arms, "Where did you hurt?"

Lexie's hand reached to her leg and Naomi analysed it, giving it a quick rub.

"I think you'll be okay," Naomi assured her,

"How about you go play with the dolly that Uncle Howard gave you in your room?"

Lexie nodded her teary face, rubbing her eyes. Naomi turned to face Emily, panic reaching her chest as Emily squinted in obvious discomfort.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?" Emily bit her lip, breathing deeply as she rested a hand against her stomach. "Did she hurt you?"

It was a relief when Emily's pained face curled into a beautiful smile.

"Howard Junior, or Matthew, or William, or whatever he's going to be called is kicking,"

"Really?" Naomi gasped, letting Emily take her hand and guide it to the spot where she could feel their nephews beating her up from the inside. "Man alive, he could be a footballer with those legs,"

*

*

*

It was a natural curiosity for Katie to want to know what happened in Australia and Howard wanted to tell her, but the first few times she'd asked, he was reluctant. It wasn't that he wanted to keep it from her, but he was scared.

"I'm ready," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around Katie's waist as she stirred a curry for dinner.

"For what?" she asked, turning her head to face him.

"To talk about what happened,"

Katie finished sorting out the dinner and turned the pan down, leaving it to cook as she sat at the table opposite her husband. She waited patiently for him to speak.

"My aunt was only eighteen when my mum and dad died," he spoke, the words coming out in a whisper. "My mum worked as a health assistant and my dad was a chemist, apparently they were really clever people."

Watching Howard's eyes grow deep as he talked about his birth parents, Katie reached for his hands, clutching them with her own.

"Joanna, my aunt, told me that my parents died in a car accident," Howard began, "We were going to the park and an idiot on drugs decided to drive on the wrong side of the road; they died instantly, I only survive because it was a head on collision."

"Oh Howie," Katie sighed, moving her chair closer and holding his hands to her front.

"They wanted to keep me, they wanted to bring me up, but my mum's parents died just before she left high school and she had to look after Joanna, she gave up her chance to go to university and become a doctor to look after her,"

"What about your dad's family?"

"He didn't have any siblings and his parents, they couldn't cope with a small child; his mum had MS and his dad was quite old, they didn't have any choice, they had to let me go."

Katie slipped out of her seat, wrapping her arms around Howard's neck, resting her face in the crook of his neck. She could sense Howard's disappointment at the loss of the family he never knew. Tears landed on her cheek and she squeezed Howard's shoulders tighter, pressing her lips against his cheek, cupping his face in her hands.

"It's okay,"

"No, it's not," he snapped, "What if something happens to us Katie? What if he's left without parents like I was? Like Lexie?"

Katie took a deep breath, trying to find the best words to answer, "We can't live our lives on what ifs"

"You must have thought about it though," he checked.

She let her head move in a nod, "Of course I've thought about it,"

"I just feel scared all of the time," he sighed, pulling her onto his knee and wrapping his arms right around her.

Katie pulled back slightly, "I'm here, as long as we're together, that's all that matters, I love you."

"I love you too," Howard cried into her shoulder.

Wrapping her arms back around Howard's body, taking in his scent; they sat together they clinging to each other, words unneeded.

*

*

*

The sun was shining, a slight breeze in the early summer air. Naomi slipped a bag over her shoulder and slipped her hand into Emily's, watching Lexie run off in front of them.

"About time, where have you been?" Katie muttered, rushing to Emily's side.

"Sorry Katie, it's my fault," Naomi admitted, "I forgot something,"

"It's only a picnic babe," Howard smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck in an attempt to distract her.

"It's not just a picnic, we're celebrating the baby," Katie snapped, walking towards her parents in a mood.

"Everything alright there Howie?" Emily asked, feeling a sense of unrest from her sister.

"She's a bit tense at the moment,"

"Emily?" Naomi muttered, an expression of shock in her voice "Is that James?"

The red head turned to the direction her girlfriend had pointed out and almost choked on a breath.

"What happened to him?" she gasped.

Howard laughed, "My man James all suited up, he's got a girlfriend,"

"How did that happen?" Naomi asked, before silencing herself after a disapproving look from Emily.

"He's really made an effort," she muttered, "I can't believe it, the last time he wore tie for something other than school was my grandpa's funeral,"

"Love does funny things," Howard added, Emily nodded silently as she watched a sandy blood haired girl about the same age as James wrap her arms around his neck, resting a kiss on his lips.

"I must admit," Naomi smiled, "That is kind of sweet,"

Emily found herself laughing, "Really? I was going to say it was sickly,"

"I guess love really does change people,"

"I think we already knew that," Emily grinned, pulling Naomi closer and kissing her passionately.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, wrapping her arms around her fiancée, feeling the bump between them.

"What is this?" she asked with interest.

"I think I've missed sex," Emily mumbled into her ear, "A bit too long without it,"

"We can't," Naomi frowned, "You're pregnant,"

"So?" Emily grinned, running a finger across Naomi's collarbone.

A tingle ran down her body at Emily's touch, a familiar hunger that she hadn't felt in a while fought its way out of hiding, causing her to jump.

"Not here," she laughed.

"I know, but I wish we could," Emily sighed, letting her lips touch Naomi's with too much passion between them.

"I guess I know why I haven't craved any food," Emily giggled, "I crave you,"

Their arms wrapped around each other as they clung to one another, desperate to do the one thing they couldn't.

"Oh," Naomi muttered pulling away, "What was that?"

Emily grinned, "The baby, I guess he doesn't like it when Auntie Naomi and Auntie Emily get too close,"

They both laughed, Naomi's hands pressing against Emily's enlarged stomach.

"What's going on?" Katie asked, walking up to them with a mixture of smiles and anger.

"The baby's kicking," Naomi informed her,

"Oh my gosh, Howard," Katie called out, excitement in her eyes, "The baby is kicking come feel!"

Naomi stepped aside to let the happy couple share the moment together, they grinned at each other, happiness the only emotion between the three of them.

"Is this the first time it's happened?" Howard asked. Katie lifted her head quickly, a look of betrayal in her eyes.

"Of course it is, right Ems?"

Noticing the expression on her sister's face, Emily muttered a response. But Katie picked up on the hesitation.

"It's not?" she asked, frowning, her eyes glistening over.

"Not exactly," Emily muttered, "It happened last night for the first time,"

"And you didn't call me?" Katie asked, feeling anger invade their moment of happiness.

She didn't want to sound so upset, or feel so betrayed, but she couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of jealousy.

"I was going to but with the party today I thought Id wait until now,"

Tears filled Katie's eyes, reaching her cheeks before she could stop them. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want a moment of happiness to be plagued by her insecurities; but it was too late. She felt words slipping from her lips with distaste, before she could stop them as she turned to Naomi.

"I suppose you were there when it happened last night too,"

Katie was the centre of attention as her sister, friend and husband watched her anger turn to a full flood of tears as she sped off across the park away from the picnic.

*

The car park was quiet; everyone who owned a car was off having fun, enjoying the beautiful day outside. Katie found a small brick wall and let her legs rest against it until she was sat down. Tears didn't want to fall, but they did anyway. Her chest tightened with a feeling of regret and sorrow. She hated the person she was being, it made her remember her teenage years when she had been nothing short of a bitch. She didn't want to be that person again and she didn't want her son to meet the bitter and twisted version of his mum.

"I honestly didn't mean to hurt you," Emily's voice appeared in the silence and she turned to see the three people she cared about most standing over her, a look of love in each and every one of their eyes, despite her unfair outburst.

"I'm sorry," Katie whispered, looking specifically to Naomi.

"What's going on Katie?" Howard asked, kneeling in front of her, holding her hands. "You have been up and down for weeks,"

She shook her head, the words not quite ready to form. Two arms reached around her shoulders as Emily and Naomi sat on either side of her.

"We want to help," Emily muttered.

Katie took a deep breath, avoiding the gaze of her family; she was ready to be honest, more honest than she had ever been, "I don't think I can do this."

"Do what?" Howard asked a look of confusion on his face.

"Be a mum," she cried, "I'm a fucking bitch to everyone, what sort of kid would want me as a mum?"

"This one," Emily muttered, pulling Katie's hand across her stomach as the baby did somersaults. "You have changed so much, you are a good person and I wouldn't have done this for you if I didn't have complete faith in your ability to be the best mother possible,"

"It's just cold feet babe," Howard added, rubbing her thighs, "I got it myself yesterday, you saw me I was a blubbering mess,"

"I think all people get scared and think they can't do it," Emily assured her, "When I found out I was actually pregnant I was petrified, but we're all in this together,"

"Together," Naomi whispered, "I never thought I'd have to look after my sister full time, but now it's happened, I've accepted it and it's been a lot easier to grasp because I had to do it,"

"But you already have a relationship with Lexie; this baby is going to hate me,"

"Yes, Lexie and I have known each other for years, but that made it harder, she still expects her mum to come back, she doesn't understand, not really," Naomi spoke, her voice delicate as she remembered the pain they'd suffered, "You are starting fresh, you will be the first people he will ever see and he will love you unconditionally,"

"I want you to have the first hold when he's born," Emily muttered, "You're his mum Katie and nothing will change that,"

"I appreciate your support," Katie cried, "But I can't stop thinking all of the bad things, after what we talked about yesterday, it won't go out of my brain,"

Howard reached up and cupped his wife's face, his hands forcing her to stare into his eyes.

"The truth is, we don't know what the future holds," he paused, "But what I do know is exactly what you told me yesterday, we're in this together, that's all that matters, I will be here, it's you and me Katie, it's always you and me."

Tears fell again, trailing down her cheeks, a sense of happiness and love floating down her face. She let the arms from her shoulders fall as she reached forwards and pushed her face into Howard's shoulder. He was right; she knew he was right, she just had to find a way of believing it.

*

*

*

**Author Note: As my readers, you get the task and choosing between 2 names for this baby; Matthew or William. He will either be called William Robert Dixon or Matthew William Robert Dixon. So…please tell me which name you would like baby Fitch to be called and the most popular will be crowned baby Fitch's name.**


	21. Chapter 21

_**Author Notes**_**: Thanks sooo much for the reviews, much appreciated, so nice to read. Also thanks for the overwhelming number of votes for William as the baby name choice. Keep voting if you haven't, but the numbers for Will are pretty high. It was an instant choice for me to be honest and I only thought of Matthew after I made Naomi think of it, lol.**

**Don't forget about the Church of Meg message board, there's some fun chats going on at the moment, so feel free to drop by and have a chat about our favourite show.**

**[http://] s3 [dot] invisionfree [dot] com/church_of_meg**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

Pulling the car into the car park Emily slid out of the passenger seat and rushed to the nursery entrance. She ground to a halt as several parents stood in the waiting area.

"Oh god I thought I was going to be late," she muttered, prompting a strange look from a couple of the parents. She noticed the sign on the wall saying 'St Judes' and silently cursed to herself for using God for a reason other than religious.

"Sorry," she mumbled, feeling suddenly nervous.

"First time?" a tall brunette asked with a slight smile on her face.

"I'm sorry?" Emily asked turning to face her.

"It's easy to spot the new parents when they apologise for saying God,"

"Oh," Emily nodded, before returning the woman's smile.

"Which one is yours? Is she the adorable blonde?"

Emily's lips curled at the edges, "Lexie, yes,"

"You look really young, how old are you?" she asked, "I'm sorry that was really rude of me,"

It was easy to laugh at the woman's comment, she felt instantly relaxed by her stumble.

"It's okay," she grinned, "Lexie is actually my partner's sister,"

"Oh right, and there was me about to tell you how great you look, so this will be your first?" the woman smiled, signalling to her enlarged front.

Emily let out a long laugh as she prepared herself to explain her pregnancy to the woman. Thankfully the classroom door opened distracting them both and the children filed out, picking up coats and bags with the assistance and reminder of parents.

"Emly!" Lexie grinned, wrapping her arms around Emily's legs as she took her bag.

"See you around?!" the woman half asked, half stated as Emily muttered a goodbye and returned to her car with Lexie in tow.

*

A sharp pain hit her hard in the stomach as Emily turned on the car engine. She had to stop what she was doing momentarily as the baby's kicks made her wince with a mixture of pain and glee.

"Are you okay?" Lexie asked a worried expression on her face.

Emily found her happiness take over the slight pain as she nodded at Lexie.

"The baby is kicking," she told her and held the little girls hand against the kicks.

"That's weird," Lexie giggled.

As the wave of kicks passed by Emily returned to her task of driving home. She asked Lexie about her day until there was nothing else to say, a silence fell over the car and Emily noticed the little girl deep in thought.

"Emly?" she finally asked,

"Yes?" she replied, giving her permission to continue.

"Simone from nursery said her mummy has a boyfriend because her mummy and daddy are diversed,"

"Divorced," Emily corrected as Lexie continued to talk.

"She asked me about my mummy and daddy, so I told her I live with you and Naomi,"

"Okay," Emily smiled, not really sure where the conversation was going.

"She said that you would prob-ly have a boyfriend, but I told her you didn't, why don't you?"

Emily bit her lip, not really sure how best to answer the question. She paused, pondering her thoughts for a few minutes until the little girl reminded her that she was waiting for an answer.

"How about we ask Naomi when we get home?" Emily muttered, feeling guilty for taking the easy way out.

*

The door opened and Naomi looked up from dinner, her eyes landing on two deep brown ones that were trying to tell her something without words. She frowned, attempting to communicate with Emily with nothing more than glances.

"Nai-Nai," Lexie began, climbing up onto a stool by the kitchen counter, "why don't you and Emily have boyfriends?"

The question was out of the blue and Naomi found herself lost for words as she glanced at Emily with realisation. She moved away from the counter to wash her hands, passing Emily as she muttered to her.

"She already asked you, didn't she?" Emily nodded as Naomi continued. "Thanks for passing the buck,"

The red head frowned until Naomi's face grew into a smile. Emily let out a small laugh and joined the sisters as Naomi sat down beside Lexie.

"Well Lexie Lou," Naomi began, "You know how mummy and daddy loved each other very much?"

Lexie nodded, her attention focused entirely on Naomi as she spoke.

"And Katie and Howard do too," she nodded again, "Well girls and boys when they're grown up find someone that they really love,"

Naomi paused and looked to Emily for some help.

"Right," Emily gasped, "Before a mummy and daddy become a mummy and daddy; they become boyfriend and girlfriend,"

"Does that make sense?" Naomi asked as the little girl's face showed no sign of understanding. But she nodded anyway.

"Sometimes boys like other boys and they become boyfriends, sometimes girls like other girls and they become girlfriends,"

Lexie's brow furrowed, a look of confusion passing over her face.

"Lexie, Naomi and I are girlfriends," Emily informed the little girl.

The small blue eyes of Naomi's sister grew wide with realisation. "Does that mean you love each other the same as mummy and daddy loved each other?"

"That's right," Naomi smiled, silently thanking Emily for her help in explaining.

"Does that mean you'll get married?"

Emily let out a small laugh and turned to Naomi for the answer.

"Yes, we're going to get married," she nodded, grinning at Emily, "Maybe before the end of the year,"

Emily grinned back, reaching for Naomi's hand to squeeze as she turned back to Lexie, "Did that answer your question Lexie Lou?"

The little girl nodded, "Would you like a snack?" Naomi asked.

"Carrots please," Lexie smiled.

"Carrots?" Naomi frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Simone says they make your eyes really good, that's why rabbits eat them,"

"Is Simone a friend from nursery?" Naomi asked as she took a handful of carrot pieces from the vegetables she'd cut for dinner. Lexie nodded.

*

*

*

"Are you almost here?" Naomi spoke into the phone after Emily greeted her.

"I'm just pulling up now,"

Naomi watched Emily's blue mini roll into the car park, as she climbed out Naomi went to greet her in person.

"We have no idea what we're here for?" Emily checked, despite asking the same question several times.

"Something to do with Lexie," Naomi muttered, thoughts invading her mind as she expected the worst, "They just said that Lexie has to be picked up asap,"

Naomi led the way into the nursery, stopping by the reception to sign them in. They were escorted to the manager's office where they took a seat side by side.

"Whereas Lexie?" Naomi asked, puzzled by her absence.

"She is in our isolation room," the manager informed them, prompting a disapproving look between Emily and Naomi.

"What did she do?" Naomi began, before carrying on interrupting the woman before she could explain, "You know all about her situation, surely whatever it is, that has to be taken into consideration,"

The woman's lips pursed together, a stern expression on her face. Naomi felt an element of fear that she associated with her primary school head teacher.

"Lexie has been causing problems amongst the other children with some rather adult conversations,"

"Like what?" Emily asked, unable to believe that the sweet innocent girl they lived with could have anything other than innocent conversations.

The woman's lips pressed together further, "I don't know how much truth is in her claims but she has been telling the other children that, and I quote, "my big sister doesn't have a boyfriend she has a girlfriend,"

Naomi and Emily sat waiting for the woman to continue, but when she didn't Emily shifted about uncomfortably in her seat, turning to Naomi with a look of indignation in her eyes.

"Is there a problem Miss Dawson?"

"You don't think that's bad enough?" the woman asked, her eyes wild with anger.

"No actually, we don't," Naomi informed her, reaching for Emily's hand and holding it between them.

The woman's eyes focused on their hands clasped together, "Oh I see,"

"What do you see?" Emily frowned, frustrated.

"I'm sorry but your sister is not welcome in this nursery if she is going to promote your, your..."

"Sinful acts?" Naomi suggested; a cheeky smile on her face as she looked towards Emily.

"That wasn't what I was going to say," the woman spoke clearly, "I don't have a problem with you, you...gay people,"

Naomi rolled her eyes towards the woman, trying best not to laugh at the small-minded conversation they had been forced into.

"I do, however, have a problem when three of my parents have complained about their child's exposure to you kind of people,"

"You kind of people?" Naomi asked, standing up with anger building up inside.

"Naomi," Emily muttered, pulling her back into the seat, "Miss Dawson, we are not ashamed of who we are, Lexie asked us why we didn't have boyfriends so we told her, it's no different to Lexie being exposed to other children talking about boyfriends,"

"Of course it is!" the woman tried, but Emily ignored her.

"We don't think so,"

"Well no," the woman muttered, looking down at them, "But I can't imagine you have much experience bringing up a child,"

"You fucking bitch," Naomi snapped, standing up again, her face red with anger and the onset of tears.

"Well that just proves my point further," the woman mused.

"You have no fucking idea what we have been through, I am doing my best for that little girl, she is everything to me," Naomi cried, her eyes filling with tears, "She is the only family I have, do you know what it feels like to have to tell a three year old her mummy and daddy won't be there anymore?"

That stern look returned to the woman's face, but Naomi felt her anger push through her fears of the hard faced woman.

"Not exactly,"

"No," Naomi muttered, wiping her eyes, "So you can sit here in your poncy school and make your judgements, but you are fucking wrong,"

"I think its best if you take your sister and leave," the woman informed them, barely looking them in the eye.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't bring her back here anyway," Naomi snapped, reaching for the door handle as Emily stood beside her, "Oh and isolation rooms? They're children, not criminals,"

The door swung open quickly and Naomi rushed out, adrenaline and anger still running around inside of her. Emily followed as best she could, watching her incensed fiancée storm through the nursery in search of her sister. The moment they returned to the car park with the little girl in tow, Naomi took a long deep breath, making Emily laugh.

"Feel better?"

"No!" she snapped, then bit her lip, "Sorry, that fu..."

Naomi stopped talking, unlocked the car door and ushered her sister inside, before returning to face Emily.

"That fucking woman, where does she get off judging us?"

"I know, she was out of line,"

"Out of line?" Naomi laughed sarcastically, "She was so far past the line that she wouldn't have been able to see it with supersonic vision,"

Emily's lips curled at the side and she had to cover her mouth as a laugh came out, the anger in Naomi's eyes didn't decrease.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?"

"Supersonic vision?" Emily asked.

The two girls shared eye contact; Emily's lips still curled at the sides as Naomi found the funny side and let her teeth show in a grin. She playfully hit Emily on the arm.

"Excuse me," Emily spoke, attempting to replicate the manager's voice, "Do not hit other people, you're a bad, bad person, off to the isolation room,"

The girls laughed for a few minutes, until Naomi leant forwards, pulling Emily as close as she could.

"How bad a person?"

Emily raised an eyebrow, "Oh, very, _very_ bad," she whispered, putting emphasis on the second very.

"And this isolation room? Is that where you will punish me?" Naomi muttered, biting her lip seductively.

Emily wrapped her arms around Naomi's neck, leaning so close she could feel Naomi's breath on her skin.

"It is; I punish you to one night in the isolation room with me,"

"Do you think Katie and Howard will babysit?" Naomi asked, pulling away as she opened the car door.

"We'll make them,' Emily laughed, as they said a passionate goodbye.

*

*

*

"This is nice, isn't it?" Naomi mused, letting her fingers run along Emily's bare shoulders.

"What? Having sex in the lounge?"

"That too," Naomi grinned, "I mean spending time together, like this,"

"Alone?"

"Yeah, we've not been alone together properly since before my mum,"

Emily shifted her position, resting her back against the carpet. Naomi's fingers travelled up and down the side of Emily's arm, sending shocks of energy up and down her body. It felt alive, reacting to Naomi's gentle touch.

"Did I ever tell how sexy you look pregnant?" Naomi asked, placing one hand on either side of Emily's body, holding herself over her.

Emily shook her head.

"What they say about glowing," Naomi sighed, pulling away slightly, "You really do, its beautiful,"

Naomi kissed Emily's enlarged stomach, pressing her hands over it as she rediscovered her fiancées new form, until she let her hands and mouth travel further.

"Twice in one night?" Emily giggled, "I don't know if I can go again,"

But Naomi didn't stop and the fire between them reignited, taking over Emily's control as she clutched the carpet.

"I take that back," she moaned.

*

*

*

**Author Note: Thanks for reading, a bit of angst and fluff for you all. I hope I didn't offend anyone with the nursery manager's opinions, they certainly don't reflect my views, but I thought they may face the odd grr people out there.**

**There's at least 2 more chapters to go… :-( I may up it to 3 depending on if there's something else I can/need to do, but it depends.**

**Oh and I think this might be one of my longest chapters ever?!**


	22. Chapter 22

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you all so so much for the reviews, sorry it's taken me a couple of days to put up this chapter, I've had it at the ready since Wednesday, not sure why I haven't posted it. Since Emily and Naomi got their fluff, I thought Katie deserved a bit of fun. So enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The room was bare; white walls, uncarpeted floor, undressed windows. It looked nothing more than a blank canvas and Katie felt overwhelmed.

"How are we going to get this done in a month?" she muttered, holding a paintbrush in hand.

"We'll be fine," Howard assured her, "Painting only takes a couple of days, we can get the carpet laid in a matter of hours,"

But she wasn't convinced. She was trying to feel positive, trying to look towards what was going well instead of wrong. It just wasn't always that simple.

"Was green the right choice?" she asked, opening the paint pot. "Maybe we should have gone for blue."

"We can get some blue paint," Howard assured her, not really responding to her original question.

"But the green is so nice and it'll match his eyes whatever colour they are,"

Howard let out a slight chuckle, "We can stick with this,"

"But yellow would have been nice too."

"I can go buy us some yellow," Howard suggested, before realising she wasn't even listening to him.

"No, we should keep it green, it's a male colour but it's not too male,"

Dipping the paintbrush into the pot Katie let the pale spring green drip back into the pool of paint. She did like the colour; it was warm, calming and a colour she'd always liked.

*

Something cold hit her arm and she turned quickly, slipping off the step ladder and landing in a heap on the floor.

"Howard!" she squealed, noticing the green paint spread across the side of her body, a cheeky smile falling on her lips as she splashed her paintbrush towards him, sending a line of green paint across the room.

"Are you okay?" he asked, dodging the paint to step closer.

"Don't you come any closer with that brush," she muttered, attempting to be serious but the curl of her lips gave her away.

"I'm not going to do anything," he told her, edging closer, but she held up a brush at the ready.

Howard knelt on the floor opposite Katie. He wasn't sure whether to keep the fight going or let it go. He reached forwards to put a hand on her shoulder when a wad of paint hit him in the chest.

"Oh you're in for it now," he moaned, wrapping his arms around her and tackling her until she lay on her back on the floor.

"Get off," she laughed as his fingers inched across her stomach, sending a wave a tickles.

"Not until you apologise,"

"You started it," she laughed,

"You did it more than once!"

"Only because I thought you were going to get me,"

"How about we just kiss and make up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, reaching for her hands to help her to her feet.

Katie took her husbands hands and let him pull her upwards, but as she put pressure on the base of her foot, a shot of pain ran along her leg and she collapsed on top of him.

"Ow!"

"If you wanted me, you could have just asked," Howard laughed, "Are you okay?"

"I think I hurt my ankle when I fell off the ladder,"

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," he gasped, helping her to sit down before looking down at her ankle. "It's swelling,"

"What does that mean?" she asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

"I'm not sure, but when I sprained my ankle in school my teacher told me there's loads of little bones in the foot so its easy to break,"

"It's broken?" she gasped, hitting him on the arm as he pressed down on a painful part. "Stop, it hurts,"

"It might not be, but we should go to the hospital and get it checked,"

"Nice one Howie," Katie muttered, letting him help her to her feet.

"I'm sorry, it was just a joke, I didn't expect you to fall"

"Well I did,"

"I know and I said I'm sorry."

"I know," she mumbled letting her lips curl slightly, whilst Howard slipped an arm under her knees, carrying her out of the room.

*

*

*

"Two hours, we have to wait two fucking hours," Katie snapped at no one in particular.

"Time will fly by," Howard muttered, hoping to stay positive.

"We're meant to avoid these waiting times by going private, this is a fucking joke."

"Try not to think about it," Howard told her, turning his whole body to face her, "How about we decide what we're going to call our son?"

"How about you piss off and find me a cold can to put on my foot, it fucking hurts,"

Barely focusing on Katie's short remark, he lifted her leg and rested it across his lap.

"Let me try something," he whispered, slipping his finger across the swelled area of her ankle, running his fingers lightly over it.

"What are you doing?" she asked frowning.

"Diverting your attention, just focus on my touch,"

"I don't think its going to work Howie, this is a well bad idea,"

"Just give it time," he assured her, "Now what name do you like best?"

Katie sighed and nodded, "I liked Naomi's suggestion of Matthew, the more I think about it, the more I like it and I think it would be a nice name to have even if it's not his first,"

"Matthew is nice,"

"Do you still want William?"

Howard nodded, "I do, my dad has been a fantastic parent, if I could only be half as good as him I know we'll do fine,"

It was an easy decision to make. Katie liked the name William, she always had. She didn't mind what they named their baby, as long as it wasn't something stupid like Apple or Pilot Inspektor. All that she cared about was that he was healthy and happy.

"I think we should call him William," she stated, grinning, "I like it, William Dixon,"

"Are you sure?" Howard checked, "I feel bad for Rob,"

"Why?" Katie asked, "He's our son,"

"I know but we're including my dad's name and he's going to be Dixon not Fitch,"

"William Robert Fitch," Katie muttered, testing out the name, "What do you think?"

"I think it works," Howard smiled.

"My foot still hurts you know," Katie muttered.

"I don't doubt that, but at least you thought about something else for a while,"

Katie smiled and crossed her legs, pulling herself up against Howard's side as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"William," Katie muttered again, her lips curling up at the thought of their son's name.*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you very much for reading, we're coming to the end of this story. There will most likely be only one chapter left, so if you want to comment on this story, you'd best do it asap! :-)**


	23. Chapter 23

_**Author Note**_**: Sorry that it's taken me so long to get this next chapter up - this was going to be the last, but the plan for this chapter is too long to fit into 1 so it will be 2 chapters. This being the penultimate. I was away last week which is why I didn't get this chapter finished sooner, despite writing half of it last week. It is sad to see this story coming to an end...but I hope you enjoy the final chaptes of this story.**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

The sun had risen long ago, but Emily and Naomi were still in bed. Naomi's head rested against the pillow, with Emily's fingers tracing the veins in her fiancées wrist. Two pink eyelids opened to reveal the bluest eyes Emily could ever remember seeing. So perfect that she still struggled to believe they were one hundred per cent natural.

"Morning," Naomi croaked, before clearing her throat, "How long have you been awake?"

"A while," Emily whispered.

"You should have woken me," Naomi muttered, but a slight shake of the head was enough of an answer from Emily.

"Finally," a little voice shouted as the door swung open.

The two women laughed as the little blonde girl affectionately known as 'Little L' came bouncing into the room, clambering onto the bed in a hurry.

"Excuse me?" Naomi chuckled, trying to sound serious but failing miserably.

"I woke up hours ago," Lexie mumbled, talking so fast about a morning tea party with her dolls that Naomi could barely understand her. To silence her sister, she pulled back the covers and waited for Lexie to climb in between them.

"Ooh," Emily moaned, resting a hand against her large bump. Naomi stopped in her tracks, a worried expression on her face.

"Is this...?" she began, but Emily quickly interrupted her.

"Its just Braxton Hicks," Emily smiled, rubbing her front. She'd had them off and on for several days, they'd always been the same. But today they were different. She didn't know how, or why, but she passed them off as another change in her pregnancy.

Naomi's worried expression sent a sliver of worry down her body. But she pushed it aside. They still had six days, she noted. Besides, first pregnancies often went overdue, it was fact according to the doctor. She didn't deny facts when it came to the baby.

*

"Work is calling," Naomi mumbled, whilst Emily buttered some toast for Lexie, "Will you two be okay?"

"We'll be fine," Emily assured her, "No problem at all,"

Naomi sighed and rested against the counter, "I understand you're at that stage where you're ready to pop and you get annoyed at people trying to help out,"

"I do not," Emily complained.

"Dinner last night, your bath yesterday morning, putting on your shoes the day before," Naomi rattled off, stopping when she caught sight of Emily's anger.

"I was fine doing all those things,"

"Yes," Naomi responded, "But its okay to ask for help,"

"We're fine, I've taken care of Lexie many times on my own," Emily assured her, "And before you say ready to pop again I will pop, but not the way we want,"

Naomi nodded her head silently, a slight smile on her face as she tried to fight the urge to laugh at Emily's threat.

"If you do need any help," Naomi began, pausing at Emily's red face, "I'm not saying you do, but if you decide you want a break, the playgroup is on this afternoon and they'll probably have space,"

"We'll be fine," Emily muttered, "But thanks."

*

*

*

Flashing images span and zoomed across her vision, creating a sick feeling in the pit of Katie's stomach. She woke with a start, sweat pouring from her face and Howard's green eyes staring back at her.

"Alright?" he checked.

She rested her body against his, and nodded slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, not taking her first answer.

"I had a nightmare," she gasped, "The baby came out with two heads,"

It was difficult not to laugh as snorts came out of Howard's mouth. He bit his lip after Katie glared at him, staying silent to avoid confrontation.

"That's not the worst thing," she mumbled, over dramatising her words, "One head was Naomi's,"

"Naomi, Naomi?" Howard mumbled, trying very hard not to laugh again, "Emily's Naomi?"

"No, Naomi Campbell the supermodel," Katie moaned, "How many Naomi's do you know?"

"Actually I went to school with," he paused, backtracking slightly, "That's not the point, how horrible."

"It really was, I think Naomi is pretty and everything but I don't want William to have her head growing out of the side of his neck,"

Howard couldn't hold it in any longer and a long, belly-deep laugh erupted from his mouth.

"It's not funny," Katie snapped.

"Come on Katie, even you must admit it's kind of very hilarious,"

Katie's lips curled at the sides and she hit Howard playfully on the arm.

*

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Howard looked up to find Katie hobbling into the kitchen, resting her arm on a crutch as she made her way towards him.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't fucking walk properly, that's what," she groaned, letting the crutch drop to the floor with a clatter as she lowered herself into a chair.

"It'll be fine soon," he replied.

"Soon? When exactly is soon?" she snapped, "The baby is due before the end of the week, the nursery is only half done and we haven't even bought a crib yet."

"Katie we've got the hospital appointment this afternoon and chances are they'll take off the strap," Howard reminded her, but she didn't feel any better.

"Even if they do, my foot is fucking broken, five weeks isn't long enough for it to heal properly. The baby is due any day and I won't be able to take care of him!"

"We don't know that," Howard sighed, "Besides, it was only a fracture, not a break and either way, we'll work things out."

"That's the same fucking thing and I don't want to miss a thing because of this fucking injury," she moaned.

"You're going to have to find an alternative to the F word when the baby comes," Howard laughed lightly, attempting to lighten the mood and change the subject.

But Katie just glared at him, she was pissed off and his laid back comments weren't helping her in the slightest. Eventually she gave in and her lips curled into another smile, mirroring Howard's grin.

"What are you smiling about?"

"I have a surprise."

Howard helped Katie back onto her crutch and helped her climb the stairs. She waited until he'd opened the door to the nursery and followed him into the room where her hands moved to her mouth immediately.

"You finished it?"

"I finished it," he smiled.

"When? How?" she gasped, looking around at the fully decorated nursery.

"I finished it yesterday, but we did the bulk of it over the weekend,"

"We?" Katie muttered, still looking around with a huge smile on her face.

"Naomi helped," Howard admitted.

There was a long moment of silence, in which Katie continued to take in every detail of the beautifully decorated room. She hobbled over to the rocking chair, where she rested her foot and imagined holding their baby as she rocked him to sleep.

"Do you like?" Howard checked, Katie just nodded.

She tried to speak, but the words came out faltered, "How, how did you…manage to do all of this…without me knowing?"

"The spa trip you and Emily took over the weekend, cooking you dinner last night, it was all planned," he admitted, unable to remove the smile from his face.

"Oh Howie," Katie gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately.

*

*

*

"Fifi and the Flowertots, Fifi forget me not," Lexie screamed at the top of her lungs along to the television.

Emily watched from the sofa, covering her ears as the little girls screams became just a little too much. She rubbed her eyes and clutched her stomach as another twinge passed through. She was in pain. The baby was moving around constantly and she couldn't get comfortable for longer than a couple of minutes at a time. The little girl in front of her turned off the television and came to sit on the sofa beside her.

"Are you okay Emly?" she asked, frowning.

She didn't want to lie. They'd been trying to teach Lexie that lying was wrong and that you should always be honest if you're not feeling happy. But Emily didn't know how to tell the little girl that she was worried, without feeling worried that she'd scare her. She rubbed the source of the pain and nodded her head, forcing a smile to spread across her face.

"You don't look okay," Lexie sighed.

A strong contraction hit her and she double over slightly in pain. _It's just Braxton Hicks_, she told herself. But somehow she knew it wasn't just practice contractions anymore.

"I'll be fine," Emily managed to mutter.

"Does this mean the baby is coming?" Lexie asked, a quizzical look on her face.

"No, no," Emily muttered, "don't you worry, the baby won't be coming until I get more pains than this."

It was a relief when Lexie accepted her answer and ran off into the kitchen muttering something about a drink. Emily smiled and pulled herself up from the sofa before waddling into the kitchen to help Lexie.

"Hold your horses Little L," Emily stated, taking a plastic cup out of her hand, "Let me do that, the last time you spilled juice everywhere."

"I'll be really careful," she muttered, but Emily shook her head and lifted the juice off the table.

After Lexie had drunk all of her juice she watched Emily as she clutched her stomach, another false contraction hitting her. It was painful and it was real. She knew it was real. But as she slowly breathed deeply, she tried to push the thought aside.

"Are you sure you're okay Emly?" Lexie asked, "Naomi said that if you look poorly then we should call her."

"I'm…fine," Emily stuttered through the pain.

Taking a seat Emily leant backwards and rubbed her enlarged stomach. Lexie was more observant than she'd ever given her credit for. She was beginning to wonder how long she could lie to herself for.

"Oh Lexie!" Emily snapped, pulling herself back up and out of the seat, "Did you spill juice on this chair?"

"No, you poured the juice," Lexie muttered, then frowned as she looked towards Emily's lower half, "Did you forget you needed to go to the toilet like I did last week?"

She closed her eyes, a feeling of humiliation boiling up inside of her as she realised that the chair hadn't been wet, until she'd sat down. She wanted to laugh at Lexie's comment, but the pain increased in her stomach and she had to clutch the table to keep herself steady.

"Lexie, sweetheart," she sighed, "Can you go and get the phone?"

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you very much for reading, next chapter is the final one, so if you want to comment on this story, you'd best do it asap! :-) If you do comment...I might be able to find some space in my suitace for when I go to the USA on Friday!**


	24. Chapter 24 FINAL CHAPTER

_**Author Note**_**: I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed or read this story and all of my previous stories. I am going to the USA to work at a summer camp over the summer, coming home at the start of September. I will miss greatly writing fics and the Skins world and all of your lovely comments. But if you would like to see my fics again in September, then **_**subscribe to me **_**and you'll find out first when I post another fic! Bring on September and thanks again.**

**A side note, this last chapter I'm not entirely happy about, but I am pushed for time, I go tomorrow morning. I toyed around with having a cliffhanger, like a major cliffhanger at the end...but instead chose to wrap it all up. I was so going to leave you hanging, thinking someone was going to die or something to that effect. So close!!!**

_**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Skins, but I did write this story.**

*

*

*

Naomi held the phone to her ear, anticipating the slight click to signal someone answering her call. When it didn't come she almost threw the handset back against the phone box. She glanced around to find three people staring at her; a look of confusion and a slight amount of fear at her angry outburst. She rolled her eyes and retreated to the hospital room a few doors away.

"Any luck?" Emily asked, pulling the covers around her bump with a level of neatness that could give OCD sufferers a run for their money.

"I called them three times just in case they missed it the first two times, their mobiles are both off, I don't know what else to try,"

"They can't miss this," Emily muttered.

Emily could see the tension in Naomi's eyes, it worried her slightly, but as the discomfort in her spine grew worse, she found herself leaning forwards, her attention stolen.

"Another one?" Naomi checked, her eyes not breaking their lack of relaxation.

"No, my back is killing me," Emily sighed.

"Come here," Naomi muttered, her eyes turning to worry. She pushed her fingers against the base of Emily's spine and waited for a reaction.

"Is this supposed to do anything?" Emily muttered.

Naomi pulled her fingers away defeated, "Apparently, but it was only on a TV show so I have no idea if I'm doing it right,"

"You don't need to worry this much," Emily informed her. But Naomi just shook her head.

"But I am worried; I knew there was something going on earlier, I shouldn't have gone to work, now Katie and Howard are going to miss their son being born,"

She felt tears prick her eyes, threatening to fall. She didn't know why she was upset, she just wanted everything to be okay.

"Please don't get like this," Emily whispered, taking Naomi's hand.

She should have responded, she knew the best thing to do would be to tell Emily she was fine, if a little worried, instead she pulled away.

"I'm going to try calling them again, if the nurse comes back with Lexie, tell her I'm down the corridor."

*

The phone rang several times. Naomi tapped her foot impatiently against the floor. She didn't want to cry, but she could feel herself slipping closer. She was about to hang up the phone when the line clicked and a voice spoke on the other end.

"Hello?"

Katie. It was Katie. She paused, a grin spreading quickly across her face before she realised that she had to respond.

"The baby," she gasped, the words slipping from her lips before she could even attempt to think about them, "It's coming."

Pulling the phone from her ear, Naomi laughed at the loud discussion on the other end of the line. She listened for a few moments to Katie and Howard's exclamations of glee and panic, before Naomi pulled them back into her conversation.

"Where are you? I don't think we have much time,"

"We're in the car park," Katie muttered, "I had the appointment for my foot today."

*

*

*

"Where the fuck have you been?" Emily screamed out, stopping abruptly to do breathing exercises.

"I had my strap removed, my foot is almost good as new," Katie replied, barely taken aback by Emily's outburst.

"I'm so happy for you," Emily mumbled sarcastically, "Did it hurt? Because this fucking kills,"

"Emily please stop swearing, Lexie is..." Naomi tried, but Emily cut her off.

"You think this is easy? That it doesn't hurt? Well you're fucking wrong,"

"I know it hurts Ems, but Lexie is only four,"

"What does fucking mean?" Lexie muttered, Naomi rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I think I'm going to go find your parents," Howard muttered, interrupting the discussion and heading for the door.

"Don't you fucking move," Emily snapped, clutching the bed sheets. Howard stared at her, too scared to move.

"W, why not?" he stuttered.

"I'm nine fucking centimetres, if you go now you'll miss everything,"

"Fine, fine I'll stay," he sighed, holding his hands up in defeat.

Watching her twin sister in pain was difficult. But it also made Katie feel very grateful. She knew that the baby wasn't far from coming and she was glad to be there to witness her son's birth.

"Can we get you anything?" she asked, reaching for Emily's hand. She regretting the offer as Emily's fingers clamped around it so hard she could feel pins and needles in the tips. Normally she would have screamed at Emily, but she couldn't help realise that Emily's pain was worse.

"Ice chips," Emily moaned, rubbing her painful stomach.

"Anybody want ice chips?" Rob asked, entering the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the midwife began, entering the room behind them. "This is a delivery room, not Piccadilly Circus, everyone who isn't Emily or a parent, can you please wait outside?!"

"We'll see you later, good luck," Jenna wished, looking between her daughters with watery eyes.

"Can't wait to meet Willy Fitch," Rob stated.

"Never, ever call him that dad," Katie muttered, "It's William…and Dixon, not Fitch,"

"Yeah, yeah," Rob laughed, "He's still going to be a Fitch,"

Naomi hovered in the doorway with Lexie's hand in hers, James stood beside her, looking lost.

"I guess," Naomi began, but James quickly interrupted her.

"Good luck, can't wait to meet my nephew,"

Emily's lips curled at the sides, "Thanks James, it means a lot,"

"I guess I'll see you afterwards," Naomi whispered, her lips pressing together as she felt excluded from the birth. She looked into Emily's eyes and felt her heart melt as Emily's eyes portrayed a similar emotion.

"I don't want you to go," she muttered, before doubling over in another contraction, Naomi reached forwards and rested a hand on Emily's leg in support.

"Then don't," Katie muttered, "You should stay, if Emily wants you here you should be here." she smiled, "Besides someone needs to hold her hand while Howie and I see more than we probably should of her,"

"Don't joke about me," Emily snapped,

"Sorry!" Katie smiled.

"I'll see if Rob and Jenna can look after Lexie," Naomi muttered, leaving the room momentarily.

*

The midwife moved to the end of the bed, Emily lay on her back with her legs bent at the knee. She was scared. The last few hours had been a blur of pain and angry words; now she could feel the pressure from both baby and the people around her.

"Ready when you are Emily, on your next contraction, I want you to give us a nice big push," the midwife called.

It was difficult to take in everything around her. A mixture of drugs, tiredness and pain were sending her mind into a spin. She could feel Naomi's hand clutching her own almost as tightly as she was squeezing back. The happy couple stood staring under the hospital gown. It amazed Emily how fine she was with people surrounding her naked lower half. She wasn't a prude, but she wasn't one for prancing around naked either. But it didn't matter, not today.

"Come on Emily, you can do it," Katie and Howard cheered as a contraction hit her hard and she used all of her energy to push as hard as possible.

It took several long pushes, plenty of cheering and more than enough hand squeezing. By the time they heard the baby's cries, Emily was warn out. She could feel her eyes closing slightly, but managed to force them to stay open long enough to see her nephew being placed into his mother's arms. She wanted to speak, to tell her sister that he was perfect, that she was happy, that everything was as it should be. But as Howard and Katie stood staring at their son, words escaped her.

"He's," Katie began as she angled the tiny person for Howard to see.

She felt a chair appear behind her and she let herself sit, though didn't take her eyes off the tiny face of her son. An arm reached around her shoulders and she glanced up quickly into Howard's green eyes.

"Perfect?" Howard offered and she nodded her head. Her gaze returned to the child wriggling about in her arms.

Things were happening around them, but she couldn't take in anything else, but her son. It was like a dream. She didn't dare look away from his round features and deep red hair, in case it was a dream and he disappeared. But she knew deep down that it was for real.

"Exactly," she responded, speaking at a whisper though she didn't know why.

"William," Howard muttered, pushing down the tuft of red hair on his son's head.

*  
*

*

The hospital room was buzzing with people. After a few hours sleep Emily woke to find Naomi sitting in the chair beside the bed, a tired grin plastered across her face. Within minutes the room filled with family all wanting to take a peek at William.

"Where's Lexie?" Emily asked.

Naomi bit her lip, "She's with James."

"James? Is that a good idea?" Emily laughed.

"He's surprisingly good with her," Naomi muttered, "I think he's going to make a good uncle."

"James?" Emily asked, "Really?"

"Really,"

Emily turned to watch the older Fitch's cooing over their first grandchild, doting expressions on their faces as they talked about his name and how strong his legs looked. Rob was on the verge of signing him up for the Olympics in ten years time, while Katie was trying her best to remind him that her son would not become a Fitch family prodigy unless he wanted to. Naomi watched her fiancée smiling at her family, she looked between the happy scene with their nephew back to Emily's face. She continued to look at Emily for a moment longer, prompting her to turn to face her.

"Everything alright?"

Naomi nodded, then sighed, "I want one,"

"A baby?"

Naomi nodded again, "I want us to have a child of our own,"

"Are you sure? With Lexie..." Emily checked, wondering how serious she was.

"She's settled," Naomi began, biting her lip with a nervous but happy expression on her face, "I think we're ready,"

"You might be," Emily laughed, feeling some pain still, "but I don't think I can do this again anytime soon."

There was a silence, a moment where Emily glanced back at her family. Everything was perfect. Katie and Howard had everything they'd ever wanted. She had Naomi and even though times were still tough, they'd made a family with Lexie. She wanted a child, someone who was theirs, someone to bring into the world and show how to be a person. On top of that, she wanted Lexie to have someone to play with and William to have someone to grow up with.

Naomi's words pulled her from her reverie, "I'll do it."

"You want to have our baby?"

"Yes," she grinned, "I want to have our baby."

"Okay," Emily smiled back, letting their fingers intertwine and the happiness that filled the room spread between each and every one of them.

Their lives had changed so much in the years they'd spent together. They were better, stronger, happier people. They were who they'd become and would be for the rest of their lives. It was hard to imagine how so many changes could happen in such a short period of time. Emily continued to watch her family until they called her over and the six of them watched the newest edition as though he were a television set with the most enthralling programme. And that was how they stayed for a while, closer than they'd ever been.

*

*

*

_**Author Note**_**: Thank you very much for reading, we're at the end of this story, which is sad. :-( BUT I hope that in September I'll be able to write another part to it, if you're all interested in that. If you want to comment on this story, you'd best do it now because you won't get another chance! :-) DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO ME AS AN AUTHOR TO FIND OUT WHEN I RETURN!!!**


End file.
